Enes Kanter Freedom announced on Friday that he would be declaring himself for the 2027 WNBA Draft after him and his team found a loophole to permit his entry into the women’s league.

Freedom is a former basketball player who is now a right wing activist who has been outspoken in his criticism of trans athletes, with this latest ploy an attempt to undermine and satirise the sports framework around the trans issue.

In a post on X, Freedom said: “My team and I have carefully examined the WNBA’s eligibility criteria and governing framework surrounding self-identification and inclusion. Based on the current guidelines, I can and am officially declaring my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA Draft in April 2027.

“I know my presence on the court will stir up strong opinions. I am definitely not here to mock, make fun of, or disrespect any community or personal choices. I’m simply asking that the current rules be applied equally to everyone — the rules that represent the very values many WNBA players and coaches have publicly advocated for.”

The tweet has garnered huge levels of debate discourse with vociferous levels of support and criticism.

WNBA Rules Around Trans Athletes

Article 13, Section 1 of the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.”

Article 34, Section 6 of the collective bargaining agreement lays out a prohibition on any form of discrimination or bias. It states that the league, the teams, and player unions cannot unfairly treat players “because of religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, or activity or lack of activity.”

The WNBA has no official public policy on transgender athletes and their eligibility to play in the league, with the rules containing no mention of transgenders. There has only been one transgender athlete to compete in the sport in Layisha Clarendon, who enjoyed a 12-year career in the WNBA. However, she came out as trans and non-binary having already become an established player in the league for seven years, thus avoiding some of the controversy that would come the way of a trans athlete looking to break into the sport.

Those in favour of stricter rules argue there should be tests to determine an athlete’s eligibility to compete. Proponents of this viewpoint often argue for the use of SRY gene tests, a method which was used at the World Athletics Championships last year.

However, testing athletes can lead to ethically and morally murky waters, often proving to be humiliating and dehumanising. Zambian footballer Barbra Branda suffered shocking levels of racist and anti-trans abuse after she failed a test which showed she had elevated levels of testosterone.

Whether it is right to test athletes, and often inflict embarrassment and chagrin on them in the process in order to work out their eligibility, is the controversial cornerstone in the trans debate in sport.

WNBA Statement

The WNBA released a statement on transgender athletes shortly after Freedom’s declaration of intent, exalting the inclusive values that underpin the league while refusing to be part of a political statement.

Freedom’s latest public display may have got him a lot of attention, but given the WNBA’s vague rules on transgender athletes and their latest statement, particularly the last line of it which is a not so subtle aim at Freedom, it is unlikely we will see the former NBA player plying his trade in the WNBA anytime soon.

Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has shared his prediction for the upcoming 170lbs title fight between Islam Makhachev and Ian Machado Garry.

Makhachev makes the first defence of his welterweight title against Garry, who challenges for UFC gold for the first time in his MMA career.

The UFC 330 main event pits a Dagestani fighter against an Irish star reminiscent of the blockbuster grudge match between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in 2018.

Ahead of this weekend’s huge title clash in Philadelphia, Woodley gave a fascinating insight and backed a clear winner while talking exclusively to GIVEMESPORT.

Tyron Woodley Previews Islam Makhachev vs Ian Garry

Woodley, who beat Robbie Lawler to claim the UFC welterweight title, shared his honest thoughts on Makhachev vs Garry and, in doing so, bemoaned the current landscape of the sport before hailing the Russian star’s ‘biggest flex.’

“I feel like when my era of MMA was the most lit era, you know, I mean, us champions, we were the champions the way we wanted to be. You know, Makhachev is a champion the way Khabib was a champion, and everybody was trying to mimic Conor,” he told GIVEMESPORT.

Woodley, who made four successful title defences during his reign as UFC welterweight king, added: “So, with that said, Garry and Makhachev hasn’t really just made me have to get out of my comfortable room and go and turn the TV on.

“And I feel like I’m not the only one that’s gonna say that. I think Makhachev is dominant. I think the biggest flex of most Dagestanian and Russian fighters is their discipline, the way they stay focused. Their flex has been undefeated.

“I think I looked at a graphic, and it was all Khabib and his relatives and Makhachev. I think it was like 107 wins amongst those guys with like single-digit defeats. There, that’s what we should really be looking at.

“We should be looking at their ability to be disciplined to the point where they win so many fights and everybody’s trying to be undefeated and undefeated, like Khabib, that they’re going to have to win four or five more fights to get the paydays and to get the exposure that somebody that goes on a press conference and talks some c*** and then, you know what I mean, try to build it up. So they’re ready to do more fights.”

Tyron Woodley’s Prediction For UFC 330

Other than his defeat to Adriano Martins in 2015, Makhachev has been extremely dominant inside the famed Octagon, collecting UFC titles in two divisions, beating the likes of Charles Oliveira, Alexander Volkanovski, and Dustin Poirier along the way.

He’s dominated his opponents with his superior grappling skills and has also shown off his stand-up, having knocked out Volkanovski in their 2023 rematch.

Garry, meanwhile, is a well-rounded MMA fighter, and while Woodley hailed the Irishman’s striking, he doesn’t know how he’ll stop Makhachev from closing the gap.

He said: “They’re ready to be more active, to earn their key that way. And you gotta, you gotta respect the old-school Bushido spirit that they’re letting their actions and their skills and their fighting style do their talking for them and less of the antics.

Makhachev vs Garry for the UFC welterweight title tops this weekend’s UFC 330 from Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena.

UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC have come together to release an extraordinary joint statement, just days after FIFA held a crisis meeting in Morocco.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has come under fire in recent weeks after attempting to sell stakes in their major cup competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors. He did a U-turn on those plans after serious backlash.

Senior executives at FIFA held a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, recently to discuss the fallout of the failed plans and how to proceed.

In the meeting, FIFA’s senior executives reaffirmed their support for Infantino. Infantino also reiterated his full support for the FIFA Secretary General and the FIFA Administration. They also said they would no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity and stressed that everything done was in compliance with FIFA rules.

UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC Hit Out at FIFA

REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC all condemned FIFA for their proposal and have now penned an open letter to ‘the football family’ criticising the organisation’s leadership. It started:

“The growth over the past decade has been real. But that progress was never the work of one individual. It was the product of FIFA, the Confederations, the Member Associations, and the thousands of people who dedicate their lives to the game.

“The expanded tournaments, the awarding of the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cups, the distribution of resources to associations. These were shared achievements, agreed together, delivered together.

“This is not about money. The Confederations have already called for the responsible distribution of FIFA’s vast existing reserves to further strengthen investment in the development of Member Associations.

“Nor is it about any Member Association losing the support it has earned, despite the fearmongering directed at our membership to suggest otherwise. Nor is it about revisiting the expansion of competitions, World Cup allocations, or any other decisions reached collectively. Those decisions were made together, and they must stand.

“This is about something more fundamental: the integrity of the game, and the integrity of those elected to lead it.

While FIFA said they made mistakes in their plans to sell off stakes in their competitions, UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC have criticised them for not admitting that ‘the proposal itself was inherently wrong.’

FIFA’s Crisis Meeting Comes Into Question

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC have also hit out at FIFA for not allowing FIFA council members of Member Associations to participate in the crisis meeting. They added:

“FIFA’s own letter also confirms that only one elected official was present at the leadership meeting in Morocco. No FIFA Council members or Member Associations were invited to participate. Only the management committee, composed of FIFA-employed senior staff, was present.

“There is silence where there should be accountability, distance where there should be openness.

“These are not the qualities football deserves in its leadership. That is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together, and out of duty to the game we serve.

“Football’s strength has always been its unity. We call for that unity to be honoured now, for leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it.”

Per GiveMeSport’s Senior Football Correspondent Ben Jacobs, the three federations want Gianni Infantino to resign, while a boycott of FIFA competitions is still possible. He added that the three confederations have begun preliminary discussions about the possibility of organising competitions among themselves to ensure players have opportunities to compete while a resolution is found.