English Football Association bans transgender males from participating in women's soccer

The English Football Association (FA), like the Scottish FA, announced that transgender people will not be allowed to play in women's soccer, after the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of female is based on biological sex. In other words, biological men who identify as women are not women in the eyes of the law.

Through a statement, the FA reported that "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, 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 added.

The Scottish FA said it will "provide guidance on the implementation of the updated policy, including appropriate participation opportunities for transgender people, ahead of the policy taking effect from the start of the new season."

On April 16, the U.K. Supreme Court was blunt about the participation of biological men in women's sports. "The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex," it said.