REBUTTAL TO UN MANDATE HOLDERS’ LETTER

To: Kirsty Coventry – IOC President

Cc:

·       Mr. António Guterres, UN Secretary General

·       Mr. Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

·       Mr. Damilola S. Olawuyi, UN Rapporteur (business & corporations)

·       Ms. Alexandra Xanthaki, UN Rapporteur (cultural rights)

·       Ms. Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Rapporteur (physical & mental health)

·       Mr. Graeme Reid, UN Rapporteur (sexual orientation & gender identity)

·       Ms. Claudia Flores, UN Rapporteur (discrimination against women & girls)

Subject: Debunking UN letter and repeating our support for IOC female-only eligibility policy 

Dear President Coventry:

The International Consortium on Female Sport (ICFS) wishes to make known our disagreement with the recent letter submitted by the “group of five” UN rapporteurs (heretofore referred to as “The Letter”) claiming that reinforcing the boundary around the female category in sport is discriminatory and harms women and girls.

Back in March 2026, we wrote a letter to you explaining our rationale for supporting the updated IOC female eligibility policy, including the resumption of cheek swab verification, in the form of a rebuttal to groups claiming erroneously that this 2026 IOC policy was a violation of human rights. There is no need to review our arguments refuting this claim, as our statement of support for the new IOC position remains online for all to see.

When groups like the one writing The Letter characterize the sex-verification screen as a “30-year setback” or a “return to the dark ages” they have no idea how demoralizing it was for women in sport to have watched the IOC “progressively” relinquish gatekeeping of female eligibility from 1996 to 2026. The lowest point was the 2021 IOC Framework that authors of The Letter point to as exemplary, illustrating how out of touch these UN operatives are with the true preferences of female athletes. The ever-expanding admission by the IOC of types of men into women’s competitions over those thirty years was baffling and enraging. As one of our members put it: “It's like we women in sport got to the end of a grueling race that had lasted 100 years to finally reach parity at the Olympic Games, only to be relegated right back to the starting line to struggle once again.”

We continue to experience happiness and relief that the IOC made a U-turn in March 2026 to upholding their own Olympic Charter in recognizing “sex” as a characteristic; with the females being distinct from males and the female category requiring strictly controlled eligibility for participation. Contrary to condemnations expressed in The Letter, this decision by the IOC has restored the human right of female athletes to safety, fairness and full inclusion in the realm of sports.

What astonishes us is how these five UN rapporteurs who authored The Letter attempt to undermine the resolute stand against sex-discrimination of women and girls established in the foundational text of CEDAW, signed by one hundred and eighty-nine countries. Nowhere in this document is “discrimination on the basis of gender-identity” written. The rights of women and girls as a distinct category are based on sex. It bears repeating that the very first article of CEDAW says the following:

Article 1

For the purposes of the present Convention, the term "discrimination against women" shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.

Progenitors of The Letter take it upon themselves to undermine the core rationale for CEDAW – sex discrimination - when they “clarify” and “affirm” that “CEDAW standards on non-discrimination and substantive equality require attention to the situation of women and girls in all their diversity, including women and girls affected by discrimination based on sex characteristics and gender identity.” Nowhere in the foundational text of CEDAW does it say anything about “sex characteristics” or “gender identity.” This is ideological amendment-by-stealth of a UN document.

Having snatched self-appointed authority to dilute CEDAW with unapproved ideological terminology, these five UN rapporteurs then attempt to scold the IOC with a “caution.” Using their unwarranted additions to the founding document as leverage they proceed to lecture the IOC with the following statement: “United Nations mandate holders have further cautioned that rigid, binary definitions of sex risk reinforcing harmful stereotypes and eroding progress toward substantive gender equality.”

We the women of ICFS implore the IOC to ignore this attempt to mischaracterize CEDAW and, thereby, to undermine true protection of female athletes. We urge you to stay the course.

The 2026 IOC Policy on Female Eligibility is the only way to ensure that women can engage safely and fairly in competitive sports by disallowing any male physical advantage and, thereby, thwarting the risk of discrimination against female athletes based on sex.

Yours in sport,

The Founding Members of ICFS

Email: hello@ICFSport.org

https://www.icfsport.org/

REBUTTAL TO UN MANDATE HOLDERS’ LETTER