The international body governing athletics like track and field, cross country and road running announced it will not allow female transgender athletes who had gone through male puberty to compete in female world ranking competitions.

The World Athletics ban on male-to-female transgender athlete participation in events will go into effect at the end of this month, but the organization said it would form a working group for one year to further consider the issue, signaling a willingness for a potential change in the future.

The organization said the decision was a result of two months of deliberation with member organizations, athlete organizations and other stakeholders. It characterized its decision as prioritizing “fairness and the integrity of the female competition before inclusion.”

It said that because there are no transgender athletes currently competing internationally, there is little evidence of how inclusion of female transgender athletes would impact the sports.

“There are currently no transgender athletes competing internationally in athletics and consequently no athletics-specific evidence of the impact these athletes would have on the fairness of female competition in athletics,” the organization said in a release.

World Athletics said the working group it plans to establish will include a transgender athlete among other representatives for both itself and a players organization.

“Its remit will be to consult specifically with transgender athletes to seek their views on competing in athletics,” the release said.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said in a statement that the group will review its position in the future.

“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. “As more evidence becomes available, we will review our position, but we believe the integrity of the female category in athletics is paramount.”