All this angst and hand-wringing and mollification over something that should never have been an issue in the first place.

World Athletics has voted to ban transgender women from elite female competitions if they have undergone male puberty, in a decision the governing body said had been taken to “protect the future of the female category”.

Speaking after the ruling, which comes into effect on 31 March, the World Athletics president, Seb Coe, accepted that the decision would be contentious but said his sport had been guided by the “overarching principle” of fairness, as well as the science around physical performance and male advantage.

As it should have been all along. “Males not allowed in female competitions” – that shouldn’t be news in the first place, it should have been the case all along. It should never have been “contentious.”

“Decisions are always difficult when they involve conflicting needs and rights between different groups, but we continue to take the view that we must maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations,” he said. “We believe the integrity of the female category in athletics is paramount.”

And anyway it’s not a matter of “conflicting needs and rights.” Men don’t have a need and right to invaded women’s sports. The conflict is a political invention.

However Coe also stressed that he would set up a working group that would consult with transgender athletes and review any fresh research that emerged. “We’re not saying no forever,” he said.

“We’re not being fair to women forever.”

Why such intense focus on the No to men instead of the Yes to women? Why all the agonized empathy for men prevented from ruining women’s sports at the expense of women whose sport is ruined?

Sports have been increasingly wrestling with the thorny issue of transgender participation in recent years, notably when New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in having transitioned in her 30s.

It’s not thorny. There’s nothing thorny about it. It’s also not about “transgender participation.” It’s about men invading women’s sport.

World Athletics’ decision is likely to be opposed by LGBTQ+ groups such as Stonewall. Speaking last month they urged sports to be as inclusive as possible. “The trans population may be small, but they have every right to participate in sports and enjoy the many physical, mental and community benefits of sports,” it said.

Nobody is stopping them participating in sports.