FA under increasing pressure to toughen transgender policy, says culture secretary
The Culture Secretary says she is intensifying pressure on the Football Association to toughen up its transgender policy which she maintains is not “correct”.
Lucy Frazer held a summit with major sporting bodies last month renewing calls for “unambiguous” bans on transgender women competing in female-only events.
However, with little sign since that the FA is minded to harden its rules to such an extent, Ms Frazer says she will be raising the issue “at every opportunity”.
“I know that the other sporting bodies are making some progress in this space,” Ms Frazer told MPs, alluding to tougher protections in swimming, cycling and athletics in recent years.
“So I am regularly raising with the FA. I saw Sue Campbell [the FA’s outgoing director of women’s football] at an event just yesterday or the day before and we discussed it again. So I know they’re looking closely at it. I don’t think that their position at the moment is correct and I’m raising it with them.”
As it stands, the FA will still allow players in some conditions to be allowed to take part in teams of their “affirmed” gender, rather than their birth sex.
That remains the case despite the organisation coming under pressure from Ms Frazer last month. “I pressed the organisations in the room that hadn’t gone as far as some other organisations in relation to their rules on trans women taking part,” the minister said, as she was asked by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee about progress after the meeting. “I would say on at least two, maybe three occasions since that meeting, I raised again the issue with the FA because I do think that they need to look at this very closely.”
Around 70 transgender footballers take part in the grassroots game on a weekly basis but there are currently no transgender women playing in professional football.
In January, a group of 48 MPs and 27 peers recently signed a letter urging the FA to change its rules to “protect women and girls”.
