England’s FA to Exclude Transgender Women from Women’s Football Starting June 2025.
The Football Association (FA) has made a significant policy change, announcing that transgender women will no longer be allowed to play in women’s football in England starting June 1, 2025. This decision comes in response to a recent ruling by the UK Supreme Court.
The FA has updated its policy to reflect last month’s Supreme Court ruling, which clarified that terms like “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer to biological sex.
Before the ruling on April 16, the FA’s transgender inclusion policy allowed transgender women to compete in women’s football, provided they lowered their testosterone levels. The policy gave the FA discretion to permit transgender women to play, taking into account fairness and safety concerns.
However, following the court’s decision, the FA has decided to take further action and restrict transgender women from participating in the women’s game.
An FA spokesperson explained: “We understand that this will be difficult for those who simply want to play the game they love in the gender they identify with. We are reaching out to the transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and discuss how they can continue their involvement in the sport.”
The FA, which governs football in England, as well as in Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man, had indicated earlier this week that it was carefully reviewing its policy.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Football Association has also updated its policy to state that only biological females will be eligible to play in competitive women’s football from the 2025-26 season onwards.
The Supreme Court ruling provided important clarification on the language used in the Equality Act, particularly Section 195, which allows the lawful exclusion of athletes from gender-affected sports based on biological sex, not gender certification.
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 adhering to international football policy defined by UEFA and FIFA. Our previous policy, which permitted transgender women to play, was based on these principles and supported by expert legal advice. This is a complex issue, and we have always stated that we would review and adjust our policy if there was a significant change in law, science, or grassroots football operations. The Supreme Court’s ruling has now led us to revise our policy, and transgender women will no longer be able to play in women’s football in England. This policy will come into effect on June 1, 2025.”
