Tuberville slams NCAA, Biden administration over transgender athlete eligibility

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Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., slammed the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Biden administration over transgender athlete eligibility.

The Republican senator caught up with Fox News Digital on Friday to discuss the new NCAA rules change that left the decision of transgender competitor eligibility in the hands of each sport's national rulemaking body.

Tuberville, a former NCAA college football coach, told Fox News Digital that he did not believe the new rules change was in line with Title IX and that the NCAA tends "to kick the can down the road" on controversial decisions.

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Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., on Feb. 25, 2021.  (Caroline Brehman/Pool via REUTERS)

"They see a situation that has arisen and instead of making a decision for all sports… they’re taking the side of, first of all, just a handful of biological men that want to play in women’s sports," Tuberville said in a phone interview, adding that the NCAA tends to follow the lead of the Olympic committee in decision-making, such as with hormone suppression.

"This is going to be a detriment to a lot of women’s sports," Tuberville warned. "Not just individual sports like tennis, and swimming, and golf, but you’re going to see it. If this ruling goes through, you’re going to see all the sports have an influx of young men playing in these sports and these women are going to be playing for second."

Tuberville slammed the ruling as "taking opportunity away" from female athletes and said "fairness is not possible" if biological males are allowed to compete in women’s sports.

The Republican senator also said he does not believe the Biden administration is doing enough to address the issue of transgender athletes.

Tuberville said Biden should come out and give his opinion on the issue of transgender athletes. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

"They don’t even address it," Tuberville said. "The president of the United States should come out and make an opinion on it. We need to know where they stand."

"Of course they hit the corners of it. They don’t say a lot about it, they stay out of the media’s point of view," he continued. "They don’t want to be seen as somebody that destroys Title IX."

"But without a voice from this administration, you are inadvertently saying, ‘Title IX is not something that we support,’" Tuberville continued. "Because there is no possible way that this would even be a case if the President of the United States and if this administration would tell the progressive left enough’s enough."

The NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

The coach also defended women’s sports and Title IX, saying he has not witnessed something like the rules change in his entire coaching career. 

"I’ve never seen anything like this," Tuberville, who led a long, successful coaching career that saw him coach girls’ high school basketball early on, also said.

Tuberville called Title IX — a 1972 law stated that colleges could not exclude women from any activity, including sports —  the "best thing" the federal government did in his four-decade coaching career.

"The uptick in women’s sports went from single-digits in high schools to almost 50% participation," Tuberville said. "And college participation to very little, no scholarships to a 600% increase."

The former Auburn football coach pointed to the plethora of women leaders in Congress and businesses as proof of Title IX’s positive impact on women but expressed his concern about the recent rule changes affecting the policy.

Lia Thomas of the Pennsylvania Quakers smiles after winning the 200 meter freestyle event during a tri-meet against the Yale Bulldogs and the Dartmouth Big Green at Sheerr Pool on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania on Jan. 8, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  (Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

"That’s what disturbs me," Tuberville said. "We did something right. I mean, we got it all right, we made it equal for women’s sports. And now, look what they’re doing."

The Republican senator highlighted the "outcry" of female athletes across America over formerly male transgender athletes competing against them, and said that "basically they’re playing for second and third [place]."

"It’s absolutely disheartening to all these young women," Tuberville said.

The subject of transgender eligibility in collegiate sports has become a hot-button issue as formerly male transgendered athletes dominate women’s sports.

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Lia Thomas, a formerly male transgendered swimmer from Harvard, has been shattering records in the women’s side of the sport, drawing criticism from biological females competing against her.

The Ivy League and University of Pennsylvania both released statements last week defending Thomas, who has been shattering records in women’s swimming ever since she was allowed to switch from the men’s to the women’s team under NCAA rules after undergoing testosterone suppression treatment.

Unlike Penn and the Ivy League, the NCAA has yet to weigh in on mounting criticism over its transgender athlete policy that critics argue threatens the very future of women's sports.

Fox News’ Jessica Chasmar and Andrew Murray contributed reporting.