So … female athletes are gonna have to pay to prove their female. Surely this is sex discrimination given males don’t have to?

I actually don't get why anyone really needs tests at all.

I am no athlete, but I have had quite a few cervical smears before now. A nurse has looked directly at my cervix- for free!!!

That's simplifying it maybe. But I am quite bemused at everyone saying how intrusive it is to have these checks when smears are commonplace for most women.

I agree.

And it should be rolled out for all athletes at a certain point. Almost like 'this is my sex passport' that they would just use for the rest of their lives.

And surely that would also help the athletes who truly do believe they're the opposite sex due to a DSD. Before it comes as an almighty shock when they try to enter professional women's sport.

@Datun No women should not be footing the bill. I had a lightbulb moment, (quite uncommon for me now) everyone should have a test duh

I completely understand why it's women who have to do it, because it's their category that's being exploited.

But of course they shouldn't have to pay for it.

I wonder if it was the male category that was needing some kind of conditional test, whether the men would have to pay for it themselves.

And yes, surely it comes under doping. It's stopping men from cheating. I can't imagine that any of them wouldn't be taking some form of female hormone.

The women should not be individually footing the bill, ffs.

Shouldn’t the government pay for these tests and have UKAD conduct them?
These tests should be under the anti-doping umbrella as it’s all about maintaining the integrity of sports for athletes.

Hormones are a type of doping, so I see no reason why a test to determine sex would not fall under UKAD and also be conducted by them using funding from the government.

Well I agree that women should not pay for fakers, but of course how are we to tell the fakers? Obviously we can but i do not see how in the current environment how else to deal with this.

in any case afar as i can recall 80% of female top draw athletes want to do the test, per Sharon Davies

But it's woman who have to pay extra for the privilege to take part in their sport.

Why isn't it funded by men, as they are clearly the problem.

Why should women have to pay for the tests? Make the fakers pay for everyone else's.

Per the posted article all potential competitors in the female category are going to have to do a swab test to filter out biological males of any variety.

it is not about women proving they are women, it is about stopping men pretending to be women.

so i do not see the problem.

Ffs British athletics - women have to pay for something that only had to brought in because men can't be trusted to say the fuck out if women's athletics

It’s the women’s classes that are being invaded by TIMs - if you want to be pissed off, be pissed off at the cheating men.

Absolutely perverse - that women now have to prove themselves yet again.

FFS