Rhiannon Ingle
Warning: This article contains discussion of discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community which some readers may find distressing.
Transgender women will no longer be able to play in women's football from next month (1 June), the Football Association has announced.
The FA said it had updated its policy in light of last month's UK Supreme Court ruling regarding the Equality Act.
The Supreme Court ruling clarified some of the terms used in the Equality Act. Within that, the court ruled that Section 195 of the Act, which allows the lawful exclusion of athletes from gender-affected sports based on sex, was 'plainly predicated on biological sex' rather than certificated sex.
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Just prior to such a ruling, however, the governing body’s transgender inclusion policy had been updated and continued to allow transgender women to play in women’s football provided they reduced testosterone levels.
Those rule changes gave the FA ultimate discretion on permitting a trans woman to play, with consideration given to safety and fairness issues.
However, the FA has seemingly since U-turned and barred transgender women altogether from the women’s game.
"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 said in a statement.
Earlier this week, the FA it was 'carefully reviewing' its policy, while the Scottish Football Association has also now updated its policy to reflect that only biological females can play in competitive female football from the start of the 2025-26 season.
The FA added: "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.
"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 the 16 April 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 1 June 2025."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]