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Thanasi Kokkinakis appears to back Andrew Bogut’s criticism of trans women in sport after NBA star posted video of a runner beating females after being born a male
Australia tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis has seemingly backed Andrew Bogut’s criticism of allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports.
The former NBA star has been fiercely opposed to transgender women taking part in women’s sports and renewed his criticism on Tuesday, when he retweeted footage of an Italian transgender sprinter winning a women’s race.
Valentina Petrillo won the 200m race for women aged 50 to 54 to claim her eighth championship title at the Italian Indoor Masters Championship earlier this month.
‘Stunning and brave queen,’ Bogut tweeted in a thinly-veiled dig at the fact she was allowed to compete in the race, to which Kokkinakis replied: ‘Seems fair’ along with a laughing emoji.
Bogut has vehemently criticised the prospect of the semi-professional women’s league NBL1 South, which incorporates teams from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, allowing a biological male to play.
Australia tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis (left) seemed to agree with Andrew Bogut (right) in his criticism of allowing transgender women to compete in female sports
Bogut shared footage of a transgender Italian woman sprinter winning her eighth title this weekend in the category for women aged between 50 to 54
Kokkinakis replied to the former NBA star and appeared to agree with his stance
Last week Basketball Australia summoned up a panel to assess the application by a transgender athlete to play in the competition.
The player has applied to play for Kilsyth and while the decision would normally be left to Basketball Victoria, the national body has stepped in.
On Saturday, Bogut shared a screenshot of a message from a woman AFL player warning allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s leagues would alter the playing field.
The player claimed she ruptured her ACL this season and was left concussed after being tackled by a trans player built like a ‘brick s***house’.
Bogut also warned the NBL1 would threaten the ‘sanctity of female sport’ if it allowed a biological male to compete.
‘Word is NBL1 South Women will have a biological Male playing this upcoming season. Are you ok with sacrificing the sanctity of Female Sport in the name of ‘inclusion’?,’ he tweeted last week.
‘#GirlDads where are you? The hashtag is trendy until action is needed.’
It quickly ignited a storm of controversy, with top female basketballers like Chloe Bibby, Saraid Taylor, Anneli Maley and Marena Whittle incensed at Bogut speaking for them when they support having a female transgender player compete in the league.
Opals great Michelle Timms threw her support behind the players, saying she’d have ‘no problem at all with it’ before the NBL’s greatest-ever player, Andrew Gaze, broke down exactly why he believes Bogut couldn’t be more wrong.
‘This confronted me personally,’ the the NBL’s greatest-ever player explained on his show The Run Home with Andy Maher on SEN Radio.
Bogut last week claimed the ‘sanctity of female sport’ was being threatened
Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze believes Bogut is wrong in his assessment
‘My daughter plays Australian Rules football, and there is a female that was born biologically a male that’s playing.
‘When I went there for the warm-ups and I look down the other end and think ‘wow that’s a big girl’… and [wonder] what sort of impact she’ll have.
‘Well, I saw that individual play three times, absolutely it was not even an issue. Yep [she was] very good, but not more dangerous, not more physical.
‘With the sport of basketball and the nature of the rules, to use the argument [that Bogut made] that someone who has transitioned is going to be more dangerous than a female, I don’t get that argument.’
