English FA Bars Non-Binary Participation in Women’s Football

What the English Football Association once described as a “complex case” no longer appears to be so. On April 29, 2025, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) announced a ban on transgender women competing in the women’s category of football.

Following suit, on May 1, 2025, the English Football Association (FA) confirmed that transgender women will be barred from participating in all levels of women’s football in England, starting next season. The new policy is set to take effect on June 1, 2025.

Just a month ago, according to the FA’s announcement, the footballers who could at least control their testosterone level under 5 nmol/L annually were allowed to play in the women’s category.

Since 2014, the FA has had an ongoing policy of allowing biologically male but identically female players aged 16 or in their post-puberty phase to play in the female category.

Eventually, last year in November, when the Twelve O Five, a group of 100 people, staged a protest outside the Wembley stadium in the UK, the said association was found accountable for the physical and legal discrimination the prevailing rule was causing.

Ultimately, the association countered against the complaint and justified their rule as an act of gender reassignment as per the Equality Act 2010. The FA Executive Chief, Mark Bullingham, strictly stood by the policy. The FA’s Transgender and Non-Binary Eligibility Committee was responsible for the determination.

Currently in England, several non-binary women athletes have been registered to play football at all grassroots and amateur levels. Since the past three decades, there have been about 70 transgender athletes per week playing football in England.

In the current legal landscape, the British Supreme Court defines women strictly based on biological sex. Under the principles of safety and fairness, the English FA has amended its transgender participation guidelines, citing concerns that physical differences could pose risks to female athletes.

As a result, the notion of inclusion appears to have been compromised. Similarly, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has aligned with the biological sex criterion, implementing a ban on transgender participation in women’s cricket.

A few feminist groups and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups are condemning the rule, claiming transgender women are real women. Stonewall has criticised the decision, labelling it “premature and disappointing,” meaning a sense of football vs homophobia will continue to have its future consequences in a broad athletic spectrum.