FA announces policy update banning trans women from women’s games

The Football Association (FA), the governing body of national football in the UK, has announced a new policy which prevents trans women from playing in women’s games.

The updated policy follows the recent Supreme Court ruling which determined that the words ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ refer only to “biological women”, in the context of the Equality Act 2010.

“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,” read a statement posted to the FA’s website.

An update following the Supreme Court ruling.

— The FA (@FA) May 1, 2025

“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,” it went on. “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” – FA

The FA stated that it intends to individually contact all registered trans women who are registered with the association to inform them of this policy change.

“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.”

Earlier this week, it was announced that Victoria McCloud, the UK’s first trans judge, is applying to the European court of human rights to bring action against the UK for infringement of her article 6 rights which, as per the European Convention on Human rights (ECHR), should have guaranteed her, as a trans woman, the right to a fair trial in the Supreme Court.

“The basis is that the supreme court refused to hear me, or my evidence, to provide them with information about the impact on those trans people affected by the judgment and failed to give any reasons,” McCloud recently explained to The Guardian.