“Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.”
Sounds simple, right?
Thats the exact language included in the recently signed collective bargaining agreement between the WNBA and the Womens National Basketball Players Association.
But theres one problem: The CBA doesnt actually define “woman.”
That should be easy to resolve, and OutKick/Fox News Digital attempted to do just that. In essence, we asked both the league and the players association: What is a woman?
We did not hear back from either.
The question became particularly relevant after Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was asked Sunday about the controversy surrounding teammate Sophie Cunninghams comments that girls and women should not have to compete against biological men.
“I think its for leagues and governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions,” to the Minnesota Lynx. “Our focus is on basketball. Thats what we talk about and how we can get wins and obviously we didnt do that tonight. So, we need to find an area to improve in that way.”
Clark, the , identified who she believes is responsible for resolving the issue: the leagues and governing bodies that operate womens sports.
So, OutKick/Fox News Digital asked the WNBA and the WNBPA to do exactly what Clark suggested and explain the leagues eligibility standard.
Article XIII, Section 1(a) of the 409-page CBA states: “Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.”
The document does not define “woman” or “women.” The terms “transgender” and “gender identity” do not appear in the agreement.
The CBA contains detailed definitions for dozens of terms, including “rookie,” “veteran,” “player contract,” “team,” “regular season” and “WNBA competitions.”
But it does not define the word that determines who is eligible to play in the league.
OutKick/Fox News Digital contacted the WNBA and asked five questions:
The WNBA did not respond by Monday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline.
OutKick/Fox News Digital also contacted the WNBPA and asked five similar questions:
The WNBPA also did not respond by Monday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline.
WNBA SUDDENLY WANTS TO STICK TO BASKETBALL AFTER YEARS OF MAKING POLITICS PART OF THE PRODUCT
That leaves the WNBA in a strange position.
Its governing labor agreement declares that only women may play in the league, but neither the agreement nor the two organizations that negotiated it will explain what that requirement means.
The league has not publicly said whether eligibility is determined by biological sex, gender identity or some other standard. It has not identified who would make that decision, what criteria would be applied or whether a separate transgender-player policy exists outside the CBA.
The agreement also provides no stated process for enforcing the requirement. It does not establish an eligibility-verification procedure, identify what records or information a player must provide, expressly authorize sex or hormone testing for that purpose or explain how the league would resolve a
