A female rugby player has spoken out after suffering severe knee injuries when tackled by a transgender opponent during a match in the Netherlands.
Elena King, 20, tore her ACL and MCL in January when her "knee was pulled out of its socket" during a game.
She is now questioning why the Dutch Rugby Association allows transgender athletes to compete against women in the contact sport.
King now faces lifelong pain and six months of physiotherapy just to be able to run again.
A female rugby player has spoken out after suffering severe knee injuries when tackled by a transgender opponent during a match in the Netherlands
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"I heard a really loud pop. That's when I started screaming. My leg was on fire," King said, per The Times.
The injury occurred during a Dutch Premiership match when her opponent, Ashley Mooney, tackled her.
King had to be carried off by teammates as the opposing club did not provide a stretcher.
The rugby star described how she was being held by two players as a maul formed when the transgender player tackled one of her legs.
"The transplayer pushed her shoulder into my knee and with immense strength pulled her arms closer to herself," King wrote in her blog.
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Rugby star Elena King has opened up after suffering horrific injuries due to a transgender opponent
"I felt the strength being used against me: it's nothing that I can explain because I don't have that strength myself.
"A cis woman could not have pulled my leg out of its socket."
King believes the Dutch Rugby Association has failed to protect female players by prioritising inclusion over safety.
"I cannot make peace with something that felt like an attack on my body," she added.
"I can't make peace with knowing that if the Dutch Rugby Association had protected my safety by not allowing transgenders into the women's competition, I would not have my pretty little knee pulled out of its socket."
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She argues that biological differences in strength led to her injuries.
In her blog post, King revealed she had already been nervous about facing Mooney after previous incidents.
She claimed Mooney had allegedly caused "a black eye, rib, and spine injuries" to other players.
King said one of her team-mates came "off the pitch crying" after an earlier encounter.
These concerns were raised with the Dutch Rugby Union, but King says they responded that "it's fine".
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Dutch News reported that club officials had previously expressed concerns about a player who had caused multiple injuries.
King met with the Dutch Rugby Association in March but felt dismissed.
"I came out of that meeting incredibly let down," she wrote. "It was clear to me that the Dutch Rugby Association didn't want anything to do with this issue."
The association has since convened a discussion on transgender players on May 9.
They have now established a "group of experts" to assess whether they must adapt their stance on transgender participation.
Elena King says her team-mates had reservations about playing against Ashley Mooney (pictured) before she sustained a horrific injury
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The Dutch Rugby Association's approach contrasts with other rugby governing bodies.
World Rugby became the first international sports federation to ban transgender women from elite and international levels in 2020.
The Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union followed suit in 2022, banning transgender players from female-only formats.
By 2023, this ban had been extended across all of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
