The FA have announced that as of the June 1st, transgender women will be unable to participate in footballing events.

This comes after the UK Supreme Court ruled under the Equality Act 2010 that the phrase ‘woman’ refers to the biological sex at birth.

At present, there aren’t any transgender professionals playing in England, though there are 20 registered transgender players in grassroot leagues.

On April 11th, the FA ruled that transgender women could compete in women’s football at all levels under the agreement that they would lower their testosterone levels.

However, with the ruling just four days later stating that trans women are not women, the FA were forced to reconsider their ruling.

The FA posted an official statement, saying “this is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football then we would review it and change it if necessary.

“We understand that this will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender by which they identify, and we are contacting the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game.”

Everton’s LGBTQ+ supporters group, Rainbow Toffees, published a statement about the ban which can be seen below.

England Netball have also barred trans women from entering their sport and the England and Wales Cricket Board is expected to follow.

Director of campaigns for human rights charity Sex Matters, Fiona McAnena believes that the ruling was “overdue” and that the FA’s previous policy was “nonsensical”.

Sharron Davies, a former Olympic swimmer, took to X to say “this is great news for the safety and fairness of all our girls and women in football. Should never have been allowed in the first place. Now every sport must follow suit”.

On the other side of the fence, Natalie Washington, campaign lead for Football vs Transphobia said trans women are now likely to give up football.

“The people I know that are talking about this are saying ‘well, that’s it for football for me’

“Most people clearly don’t feel that they can go and play in the men’s game for reasons of safety, for reasons of comfort.”

Other governing bodies to ban transgender women from their sports are The Ultimate Pool Group (the governing body of eight-ball pool), World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association as well as aquatics, athletics and cycling all implementing outright bans on trans women.

The FA are reportedly in contact with the amateur transgender players to help them to stay in the game.

Featured image courtesy of Alamy Images under agreed licence.

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