World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman says the organisation plans to introduce a new transgender category in 2023 ©Getty Images

World Boxing Council (WBC) President Mauricio Sulaiman says the organisation plans to introduce a new transgender category during 2023.

Sulaiman said the new category would adopt the "at birth" rule, so that a transgender fighter assigned as male at birth, would only compete against a fellow transgender fighter who was also assigned as male at birth.

Under the proposals, transgender fighters would not be permitted to fight non-transgender opponents.

"We are going to put out a global call for those who are interested in 2023 and we will set up the protocols, start consultation and most likely create a league and a tournament," said Sulaiman, as reported by The Telegraph.

"It is the time to do this, and we are doing this because of safety and inclusion.

"We have been the leaders in rules for women's boxing - so the dangers of a man fighting a woman will never happen because of what we are going to put in place.

"In boxing, a man fighting a woman must never be accepted regardless of gender change.

Boxing New Zealand, whose President Steve Hartley is pictured standing, has publicly announced its support for an open category in boxing ©IBA
Boxing New Zealand, whose President Steve Hartley is pictured standing, has publicly announced its support for an open category in boxing ©IBA

"There should be no grey area around this, and we want to go into it with transparency and the correct decisions.

"Woman to man or man to woman transgender change will never be allowed to fight a different gender by birth".

Sulaiman said the organisation planned to open a universal registration next year, in order to "understand the boxers that are out there".

In August, Boxing New Zealand declared its support for an open category in which transgender athletes would be allowed to compete, during its participation in a Sport New Zealand consultation on draft guidelines for transgender inclusion in sport.

Earlier this year, the International Swimming Federation, since rebranded as World Aquatics, changed its policy on the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s competitions, requiring individuals to have completed transition by the age of 12 to become eligible.

World Triathlon also agreed a new policy this year permitting transgender athletes to compete in women’s competitions, with the introduction of stricter restrictions include a requirement to demonstrate low levels of testosterone for two years.

The International Olympic Committee defended its policy earlier this year in the wake of World Aquatics policy change on transgender athletes, saying that it could not "come forward with one short rule that fits everybody".