Football Association to ban transgender women from playing women’s football next season
The Football Association has said it will ban transgender women from playing women’s football in England from the 2025/26 season.
The move comes after a ruling by the UK Supreme Court that said a female is defined by biological sex.
“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,” said a spokesperson for The FA.
“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.
“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.”
It’s believed there are currently no transgender women playing professional women’s football in England and the new rules follow bans on trans women playing women’s sport in athletics, cricket and rugby.
