BBC accused of 'ignoring pro-trans bias in sports stories after warnings raised by female staff' over five years - with ban on male-born athletes now set to kick in from Olympics

The BBC has been accused of 'ignoring' warnings from female members of their staff about a 'pro-trans bias in their sports stories'. 

Bosses at the broadcasting corporation were reportedly told that their positive coverage of controversial athletes ignored any negative effect on women's sport and often amounted to 'puff pieces'. 

The Telegraph report that multiple female staff members brought up their concerns over the last five years, having seen messages from those involved.

The staff were said to feel ignored by the BBC and unable to go against the stance to affirm transgender identity.

Staff were said to take issue with the broadcaster calling biologically male competitors 'transgender' women, saying that it ran contrary to their own style guide. 

Biologically male swimmer Lia Thomas, weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, cyclist Austin Killips are among the controversial athletes at the centre of the row over transgender athletes in women's sport in recent years. 

On Monday afternoon, it was revealed that a ban on transgender women in Olympic sports is edging closer and is strongly expected to be in place for the LA Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), under new president Kirsty Coventry, is in discussions around a dramatic policy shift that would prevent the likes of Hubbard from competing at the Games again.

Many other athletes are set to be affected by the new policy, which looks likely to come into action next year after the Winter Olympics in February 2026.

The BBC's historical reporting of transgender issues in sport has come under added scrutiny and the appointment of Alex Kay-Jelski as BBC Sport director drew criticism last year. 

He had previously written a 2019 article in the Times that Martina Navratilova, the nine-time Wimbledon champion and Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies were 'not experts' on the trans issue in women's sport. 

Both Navratilova and Davies have repeatedly opposed biological males competing women’s competition. 

Harry Potter author JK Rowling was among those to criticise Kay-Jelski's appointment, writing on X: 'I'd say it's unbelievable for a man in his position to say these things at all, let alone block you (Navratilova), and yet, given the shameful state of the BBC's reporting on the women's rights/gender issue, it's utterly predictable.'

In response to the Telegraph's report into BBC staff feeling ignored, a spokesperson for the public broadcaster responded: 'While we always listen to feedback, BBC Sport has and always will report a wide range of views and perspectives in line with our editorial guidelines. 

'We are unable to say more without further evidence of the points you are putting to us.'

While the expected ban on transgender athletes competing in the 2028 Olympics is expected to be in place, it remains unclear if there will be barriers against athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) after the boxing furore at Paris 2024.

Under the existing rules, each sport is empowered to decide if transgender women can compete if their testosterone levels fall below a designated threshold.

It is understood that a rule change around DSD athletes is considered likely in the long run, but faces internal opposition, according to Daily Mail Sport sources.

That separate branch of the debate led to fury in Paris last year when Algeria's Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan won boxing gold medals after being disqualified from the World Championships in 2023 for reportedly failing gender eligibility tests. 

The IOC executive committee, which included Coventry at the time, faced huge criticism for permitting them to fight.