The Football Association has confirmed that transgender women will no longer be able to play in women’s football in England from June 1.
The FA says this is following the material change in the law announced by the UK Supreme Court on April 16. It unanimously ruled that a woman is defined by biological sex under equality law.
“As the governing body of the national sport, our role is to make football accessible to as many people as possible, operating within the law and international football policy defined by UEFA and FIFA,” a statement reads.
“Our current policy, which allows transgender women to participate in the women’s game, was based on this principle and supported by expert legal advice.
“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 Supreme Court’s ruling on April 16 means that we will be changing our policy. Transgender women will no longer be able to play in women’s football in England, and this policy will be implemented from June 1, 2025.
“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.”
Scottish FA bans transgender women from playing women’s football
Last month, the Scottish FA confirmed that transgender women will not be able to compete in women’s football in Scotland from the start of next season.
The change will mean only players born biologically female will be able to play in competitive female football from U13s upwards.
It is understood there are currently no transgender women registered as players in Scotland.
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Football player and activist, Natalie Washington, speaks to Sky Sports on the impact of the FA’s decision on trans women in football
“This is not an ideological decision from the FA”
Sky Sports News senior reporter Rob Dorsett:
“The FA has confirmed that transgender women will no longer be able to play in women’s football from June 1 and they say that is not an ideological decision.
“They’re not making any judgment on that, but that’s the law, and they have to follow it, just in the way that their previous policy followed the law as it was back then.
“I’ve been told that there are just under 30 transgender players playing currently in England, at grassroots level.
“There are none in the professional game currently, and when it comes to the professional game, that isn’t something the FA are going to have to be able to deal with. That comes down to UEFA and FIFA, who I’m told are looking at this, but have yet to make a decision or any announcements on it.
“So this is still very much a live topic. We wait to see whether there’ll be a challenge to the FA’s decision, but quite clearly, there are just under 30 players who’ve been playing football for some time under the FA’s previous rules, they’re not going to be able to play football now for a women’s team.
“They admit this is a complex subject, and it’s been made clear to me from the people I’ve been speaking to that they have taken extensive legal advice on this. The impression I get is the FA are trying to do the right thing, but it’s such a controversial topic, it’s difficult and they will be criticised whatever they do in this area.
“On April 16, the Supreme Court ruling defined that the term woman refers to biological woman and the term man refers to biological man, and that changed an awful lot of policy, right across the board. Britain’s first transgender judge is actually challenging the UK Government on that.
“So if they have success in the European courts, that might lead to changes in UK law, and then the FA and the Scottish FA have got to look at this again, but it’s a very difficult subject.”