Debate about equal rights
British politicians want to exclude trans women from women’s football teams
Sam Kerr and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (l.) from Chelsea FC: There are no trans women in their team
© Imago Images
There has been a long-standing debate about transgender athletes in competitive sports. In Great Britain, politicians are now calling on the FA to take action: trans women should not play in women’s teams.
The English Football Association is facing a challenge: Several parliamentarians are calling on the Football Association FA to ban trans women from playing in women’s teams in the future. Around 70 members of the lower house and the upper house signed a corresponding letter, as the PA news agency reported on Friday. In the Competitive sports have long been discussing how to deal with transgender athletes.
According to politicians, people who were assigned male at birth should not be allowed to play on female soccer teams. The Football Association (FA) must “protect women’s and girls’ football,” they demanded, arguing that adults also do not play in children’s teams.
Normally decisions are made on a case-by-case basis
The parliamentarians also referred to media reports that several teams in a lower league had recently canceled games against one team. The reason for this is said to be that another player was injured when a trans woman playing was shot.
In principle, in English football it is possible for people to compete in the league with whose gender they identify. Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. According to the PA, other British sports associations – such as the Rugby Football Union and British Cycling – have stricter rules. Since June 2022, the German Football Association has been letting trans, intersex and non-binary people decide for themselves whether they play in a women’s or a men’s team.