Project B Adopts IOC-FIBA Gender Rules Before January Launch as WNBA Faces Eligibility Backlash
Updated
Updated · Front Office Sports · Aug 11
Project B Adopts IOC-FIBA Gender Rules Before January Launch as WNBA Faces Eligibility Backlash
1 articles · Updated · Front Office Sports · Aug 11
Summary
Project B said its women’s league will use IOC and FIBA gender-eligibility rules, with cofounder Alana Beard casting the policy as a way to give players and stakeholders “consistency and confidence.”
January is the target launch for the upstart global league, which has announced 15 players including Nneka Ogwumike, Jonquel Jones and Sophie Cunningham, and says those players already know the eligibility framework.
The move lands as the WNBA faces renewed scrutiny after Cunningham said women’s sports should be protected from “biological men,” prompting support from women’s-sports groups and pushback from trans-rights activists and some league figures.
Cathy Engelbert told WNBA teams Friday that transgender participation will be discussed with executives this week, while the WNBPA denounced hate against transgender people; the league’s CBA says only that eligible players must be women.
Project B would not say whether it will require the IOC’s new one-time SRY gene test, a policy adopted in March and followed by FIBA in April that is already spreading to other sports, including the WTA.