Transgender women are to be banned from playing women’s football in Scotland following the Supreme Court ruling on single-sex spaces.
In a move that has piled pressure on the Football Association to act “today” to follow suit, Telegraph Sport has been told the Scottish FA is updating its rules to prohibit those born male from taking part in the female game.
Its English counterpart has been taking legal advice over the implications of this month’s verdict by the UK’s highest court but former FA chair Lord Triesman said similar clarity from the organisation he used to lead was “long overdue” as he accused it of having shown “a foolhardy contempt for law”.
He told Telegraph Sport: “The Scottish FA, often ahead in its thinking, has had the wisdom to ban trans women from women’s football. Similar clarity from the FA is long overdue and the time to act is today. The very idea the FA can disregard the Supreme Court shows a foolhardy contempt for law. Every passing day makes it worse. A decent administrator would devise inclusive competition rules for trans women’s football in minutes; but it would never be as part of women’s football.”
An FA spokeswoman said: “We are carefully reviewing our policy and taking legal advice.”
The SFA has wasted little time acting on the Supreme Court verdict, its board having met on Thursday to discuss imposing a blanket ban on trans women in its female-only competitions.Lawyers are now updating rules that presently allow those born male to play in their affirmed gender category on a case-by-case basis, with testosterone levels taken into account. Trans women will still be able to play in the Scottish Unity Football League – teams from which have a commitment to being open to all – or in men’s football if they choose to do so.
Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns at human rights charity Sex Matters, said: “The SFA has done the right thing, protecting the women’s category before more damage is done. The FA and Welsh FA need to follow its lead now, because every male player in a women’s league affects dozens of women, creating unfairness and increasing the risk of injuries in every match they play.
“The FA policy of requiring trans-identifying male players to lower their testosterone only proves it knows who the men are and that they have male advantage. The longer it delays, the more women are at risk. Men need to accept non-conforming men in their teams. It’s not up to women to be kind at their own expense.”
Telegraph Sport has been told there are currently no registered trans players in Scottish football, although goalkeeper Blair Hamilton played there before moving south of the border.
It emerged on Monday that the FA and England and Wales Cricket Board had both been receiving fresh counsel on transgender policies which had already been updated in recent months.
A blanket ban across sport on trans women in women’s competition appears more likely than ever, with snooker chiefs also announcing a review.
The responses follow campaigners describing a legal ruling two weeks ago that trans women are not women as a watershed moment for sport. Governing bodies could no longer justify allowing male-born athletes to compete against women at any level, they said.
Before the Supreme Court clarification, the FA effectively launched a case-by-case policy at the start of April which stopped short of a blanket ban. About 20 trans women registered to play amateur football in England alongside women could continue playing if their testosterone levels were below five nanomoles per litre for at least 12 months. Those FA rules state: “Where there is an issue about a player’s eligibility, efforts will always be made to resolve it through dialogue between the player, the county FA and the FA.”
Cricket, meanwhile, had already banned trans women who have gone through male puberty from elite matches. However, trans women are eligible to play in tier three of the domestic structure, which comprises traditionally lower-level counties, and in recreational cricket. The ECB previously required all trans women looking to take part in elite-level female-only competitions to apply for written clearance. Evidence was then reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
A source with understanding of the FA’s position said the governing body had now noted the Supreme Court decision and was “taking legal advice on the impact” of its recently amended transgender policy.
Senior figures in cricket, meanwhile, said the legal advice would be an attempt to “fully understand the implications of the ruling and how it might affect recreational cricket”.
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association confirmed on Monday that own its policy would be reviewed after clarifications on the meaning of the Equality Act.
Snooker currently allows trans women to compete in its female category if they can demonstrate their testosterone has been below 10 nanomoles per litre for at least 12 months, and then maintain it below that level. Pool had already changed its trans inclusion policy last week following receipt of a report which concluded it was a gender-affected sport.
The 88-page Supreme Court ruling included a section devoted to the interpretation of Section 195 of the Equality Act, which provides an exemption allowing competitors to be excluded from a “gender-affected” sport or activity based on their sex.
The ruling states: “We consider that this provision (Section 195) is, again, plainly predicated on biological sex, and may be unworkable if a certificated sex interpretation is required.”
Lord Triesman immediately responded to the clarification by calling for the heads of sport governing bodies to resign.
“All those involved should stand down immediately from sports administration and from the quasi-judicial panels on which they’ve served and, in effect, broke the law,” he told Telegraph Sport on April 16. “Thank goodness for the wisdom of the most senior judges in the UK.”
Triesman, former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies and the campaign group Sex Matters confirmed that the ruling had opened the door to football and cricket authorities facing eventual lawsuits from women athletes.