English FA will ban transgender women from women's football from next season

The Football Association will ban transgender women playing women's football in England from next season.

It follows a similar move by the Scottish FA this week after a UK Supreme Court ruling in April that a female is defined by biological sex.

In Scotland, only players who were female at birth will be allowed to play in women's football over the age of 13.

A statement from the English FA said on Thursday: "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.

"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."

Previously the English body had said that its gender policies were being updated as a result of the court ruling - and transgender women could continue to compete as long as their testosterone was below a certain level.

Cricket could also follow suit, with reports that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is meeting on Friday to discuss banning transgender women from competing at all.

Currently, they cannot compete in the top two tiers of the elite game - but are allowed to play up to and including Tier 2.

The ECB has not yet commented on the reports.

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There are not thought to be any transgender women currently playing women's professional football in either England or Scotland.

Only around 20 are believed to play in the grassroots game this season.

The new policies for both nations emulate blanket bans on trans women in women's sport introduced by athletics, cricket, and rugby.

Court rules women are defined by sex at birth

The Supreme Court ruling on 16 April followed a long-running legal challenge around how sex-based rights are applied through the UK-wide Equality Act 2010.

The judges were asked to rule on what that legislation means by "sex" - whether biological sex or "certificated" sex as legally defined by the 2004 Gender Recognition Act.

They unanimously decided the definition of a "woman" and "sex" in the Equality Act 2010 refers to "a biological woman and biological sex".

But delivering the verdict Lord Hodge cautioned: "But we counsel against reading this judgment as a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another. It is not.

"The Equality Act 2010 gives transgender people protection, not only against discrimination through the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, but also against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment in substance in their acquired gender.

"This is the application of the principle of discrimination by association. Those statutory protections are available to transgender people, whether or not they possess a gender recognition certificate."

(c) Sky News 2025: English FA will ban transgender women from women's football from next season