A proposed new consensus on gender policy among global sports leaders would become the first unified standard.

Global sports leaders have agreed on a new set of eligibility criteria for transgender athletes, with the new policy expected to be announced in the first half of this year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Saturday.

It will be the first unified policy adopted by the IOC and international sports federations for major events across dozens of sports, including the Olympics and world championships. Currently, federations have their own rules, which may vary.

Details of the new policy are unclear, but it is expected that the participation of transgender athletes competing in the women’s category will be strictly limited if the athlete has gone through full male puberty before any subsequent medical transition.

The IOC, led by its first female president Kirsty Coventry, took the lead in opting for a unified approach in June.

“Protecting the female category is one of the key reforms she wants to introduce,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told a news conference at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on Saturday.

“I would say it will happen very soon, within the next few months.

“It has entered the consultation phase and we have had a ‘pause and reflect’ (period) on it,” Adams said. “In general, there is a consensus within the sport. I think there will be a new policy in the first half of the year. Don’t hold me to it, but that’s the rough timeline.”

In September, Coventry established a “Protecting Women’s Categories” working group, made up of experts and representatives from international sports federations, to examine how best to protect women’s categories in sport.

Coventry’s decision comes after the IOC has long opposed any universal rules on transgender participation in the Olympics, directing international federations to develop their own guidelines in 2021. Under current rules, which are still in effect, transgender athletes are eligible to compete in the Olympics once approved by their respective federations.

Only a handful of openly transgender athletes have competed in the Olympics. New Zealand weightlifter Laurel ⁠Hubbard competes at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, becoming the first openly transgender athlete to compete in a gender category different from her birth sex.

For example, World Aquatics currently allows transgender athletes who transitioned before the age of 12 to compete. World Rugby has banned all transgender athletes from competing at elite level.

As Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Summer Olympics, U.S. President Donald Trump has banned transgender athletes from participating in school, college and professional events on the U.S. women’s team.

Trump, who signed an order banning men from women’s sports in February, said he would not allow transgender athletes to compete in the Los Angeles Olympics.