International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach says that the issue of how transgender athletes compete in sports needs to be decided on a sport-by-sport basis.

He says that the nature of each sport is different and one general rule could not be set by the IOC regarding whether transgender athletes are allowed to compete, and how.

“It needs to be decided on a sport-by-sport basis because the sports are very different,” Bach said during a press scrum at a sports expo at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on Saturday. “It needs to be decided in some sports, discipline by discipline.”

The issue concerns athletes who were born male but identify as female and choose to compete against athletes who were born female. This has led to disagreements within sports about the fairness of competition since males naturally produce more testosterone than females, increasing their performance level.

But Bach’s position is that scientific research has been done regarding the issue, and based on the findings which allow athletes to compete based on medically reduced testosterone levels, the IOC has to act accordingly.

“The IOC’s position is very clear,” he said. “We have issued statements with regard to the positioning of transgendered athletes in sports, which is about ensuring fair competition, and on the other hand, respecting everybody’s human rights.

“There, the IOC has an issue because of recommendations for procedures on how this issue can be addressed in sport — because there is no one-size-fits-all solution. There is obviously a difference between boxing and equestrian sports, and others, so each international federation has to, by following these procedures, respect the rights of athletes, and ensuring so in the very end because these sporting organisations are for fair play.”

Bach also addressed the issue of a proposed boycott of the Olympic Games by 34 nations. This boycott stems from the IOC allowing neutrality to Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024 in spite of those nations’ involvement in the invasion of Ukraine, in a war that has now lasted over one year.

The nations spearheading this boycott are the United States of America, Great Britain, France, Canada, and Germany, who collectively numbered more than a fifth of all participating athletes at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

But Bach is unfazed.

“There are some talks of boycotts and some discussions within the Olympic movement that we have been talking about with Paris,” he said.

“These consultations are ongoing but don’t worry, we’ll have a great Olympic Games in Paris. We are not talking about these issues. There are consultations going on, you will see there will be good solutions, and there will be a great Olympic Games in Paris.”

Bach and the rest of his nine-member delegation from the IOC arrived in Montego Bay on Friday for talks with the Jamaica Olympic Associations and various local sporting associations regarding their concerns about their place within the Olympic movement. He also witnessed exhibitions of various Olympic sports played locally and held discussions with Olympians about welfare issues.

The IOC delegation leaves on Sunday afternoon.