By Tonia Okereke
Transgender women have been banned from playing women’s by the English Football Association, starting from June 1st.
The FA amended its rules on 11 April, applying stricter eligibility criteria for transgender women to continue playing in women’s football at all levels.
However, following the UK Supreme Court ruling on 15 April that the legal definition of a woman is defined from the gender that they were born with, the FA has scrapped that policy and says only those born biologically female will be permitted to play.
The FA said in a statement: “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”.
The FA in turn offered those players banned from competing free therapy in collaboration with Sporting Chance, external – a charity which provides sportspeople with mental health support.
“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.”
The FA explained on Thursday that there were fewer than 30 transgender women registered among millions of amateur players.
There are no registered transgender women in the professional game across the Home Nations.
The Scottish FA on Thursday also announced it was banning transgender women, external from women’s football in Scotland.
There is also speculations that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is also expected to ban transgender women from the women’s game.
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