Transgender women barred from playing women’s football from June 1st by FA

By Jamie Gardner

Transgender women will no longer be able to play in women’s football from June 1st, 2025, the Football Association has announced.

The FA said it had updated its policy in light of last month’s UK Supreme Court ruling regarding the Equality Act.

The governing body’s transgender inclusion policy had been updated just prior to that ruling, and continued to allow transgender women to play in women’s football provided they reduced testosterone levels. Those rule changes gave the FA ultimate discretion on permitting a trans woman to play, with consideration given to safety and fairness issues.

Now though, the FA has gone further and barred transgender women from the women’s game.

“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,” the FA said in a statement.