English Football Association to bar males from women’s soccer

England’s governing body for professional and amateur soccer will no longer allow transgender-identifying males to compete in women’s soccer starting next month.

The English Football Association (EFA) said the change will take effect on June 1. It comes in response to a United Kingdom Supreme Court ruling last month that the definition of woman under the Equality Act of 2010 is based on anatomical sex, not so-called gender identity.

“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,” EFA said in a statement. 

“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.” 

EFA expressed empathy for transgender-identifying people and said it hopes to keep them involved with the sport. 

“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,” EFA said.  

“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.” 

EFA isn’t the only sporting body in the United Kingdom to change its transgender athlete policy since last month’s ruling. The Scottish Football Association did the same last week, and the U.K.’s Ultimate Pool changed its policy the week prior. 

“We respect that some people within the pool community may find the changes challenging,” Ultimate Pool posted on X last month. “As an organisation, we are committed to being empathetic to all members of our community and we expect all members of our community to reflect this.” 

Ultimate Pool made the change after Harriet Haynes and Lucy Smith, two male competitors, competed against each other in the championship round of its Women’s Pro Series event last month, sparking backlash.  

Haynes defeated Smith and got the British equivalent of $2,300 in prize money.  

Protesters at the event held signs saying, “Save women’s sport” and “He’s a man,” as The Lion reported. 

A February 2025 YouGov poll found 74% of Britons oppose letting transgender-identifying male athletes compete in women’s sports, while 12% support it.