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I do think once swimming stuck it's head above the parapet it just made it easier for other sports to then follow suit: Transgender players have been banned from women's internationals while the sport's governing body does further research on its inclusion policy. International Rugby League (IRL) said it wanted to "balance the individual's right to participate... against perceived risk to other participants". The move comes as a number of sports are considering transgender inclusion. Transgender swimmers were on Sunday banned from women's elite races if they have gone through male puberty. And World Athletics president Lord Coe hinted to the BBC that the sport could follow swimming's example, saying it is set to discuss adopting a new eligibility policy and that "fairness is non-negotiable". The IRL said it had considered "relevant developments in world sport" in coming to its decision to ban transgender athletes until it had completed research on its final inclusion policy. The ban will apply to the league's World Cup to be held in England in October. The competition involves teams from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cook Islands, England, France, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. "It is the IRL's responsibility to balance the individual's right to participate - a long-standing principle of rugby league and at its heart from the day it was established - against perceived risk to other participants, and to ensure all are given a fair hearing," the organisation said. "The IRL will continue to work towards developing a set of criteria, based on best possible evidence, which fairly balance the individual's right to play with the safety of all participants," its statement added. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/61875651