Courtesy: England FA
The Football Association (FA), the governing body of football in England, has banned transgender women from playing in women’s football. Earlier, the FA had amended its rules on April 11, to allow the transgender women to continue playing women’s football at all levels with stricter eligibility criteria, but after the UK’s Supreme Court ruled that the definition of a woman is based on biological sex on April 15, they have scrapped the policy effective from June 1 onwards.
As per the report published in the BBC, last month, the FA had allowed transgender women to be a part of women’s football only if they were able to prove via their medical records that their testosterone levels had been below prescribed levels for at least the past 12 months, apart from providing the hormone therapy record and annual treatment review. But, just a couple of weeks after the ruling of the UK’s Supreme Court, they have stated that only those who are born biologically female will be permitted to play in women’s football.
We understand that this will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game: England FA
The official statement from the FA regarding the matter was essentially all about pointing out that they are trying to work by the law of the land more than anything else while understanding the plight of the people of the transgender community. It read, “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,” they further wrote.
After the decision of the FA in England, the Scottish FA is planning to follow in their footsteps by banning transgender women from women’s football up north in Scotland. As per the report, it is also revealed that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will also ban transgender women from taking part in women’s cricket.
