Martina Navratilova on Sunday apologized for describing transgender athletes competing in women's sports as cheaters.

The 18-time Grand Slam winner has come under fire after writing in a Sunday Times column that allowing trans athletes to compete with women who were assigned as female at birth is "cheating and unfair".

Rights group Trans Actual described the comments as "disturbing, upsetting and deeply transphobic", while Navratilova has been dropped as an ambassador for Athlete Ally, which campaigns for gay and transgender issues in sport.

"I know that my use of the word 'cheat' caused particular offense among the transgender community. I'm sorry for that because I certainly was not suggesting that transgender athletes in general are cheats," the 62-year-old wrote in a blog on Sunday.

"I attached the label to a notional case in which someone cynically changes gender, perhaps temporarily, to gain a competitive advantage."

Despite apologizing, Navratilova said that the issue of transgender athletes is guaranteed to keep creating competitive as well as ethical questions.

But she believes that trying to resolve the issue by creating further separate categories within any given sport would lead to confusion.

"First, we all need to realize that there is no perfect solution in which nobody will ever be wronged or disadvantaged. The objective must be to find policies that make women's sport as inclusive and fair as practically possible.

"After all, if everyone were included, women's sports as we know them would cease to exist. Therefore, any sensible policy must have some exclusions. But which ones? Where do you start and where do you end?"

AFP