World Athletics president Sebastian Coe announced the decision following a council meeting at the World Indoor Championships in India. Under the new protocol, all female athletes would have to undergo a one-time cotton swab or dried spot blood test in order to compete in World Athletics competitions.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe says the track and field’s governing body has approved the introduction of cheek swabs and dry blood-spot tests for female athletes in order to maintain “the integrity of competition.

World Athletics said on Tuesday it had approved the introduction of a cheek swab test to determine if an athlete is biologically female.World Athletics is looking at cheek swab tests but is also considering using blood spot tests.