Starting from the 1st June, transgender women will no longer be allowed to participate in women's football in England, the Football Association (FA) has confirmed. The decision comes in response to a UK Supreme Court ruling that reaffirms the legal definition of a woman as being based on biological sex.

The FA had only recently introduced updated participation guidelines on 11 April, which permitted transgender women to play in women’s football if they met specific medical and physical criteria. However, in light of the Supreme Court's 15 April judgment, the FA has withdrawn those policies and updated its regulations to allow only individuals assigned female at birth to compete in the women's category.

“This is a complex and sensitive issue,” the FA said in a statement. “Our approach has always been to review our policy if there was a significant change in the law, scientific understanding, or the impact of the policy at the grassroots level. We recognise that this decision will be difficult for some individuals who simply want to play football in the gender with which they identify. We are now reaching out to the transgender women currently registered in the game to explain the changes and offer alternative ways to remain involved.”

According to the FA, fewer than 30 transgender women are currently registered among millions of grassroots football players in England. There are no transgender women competing at the professional level within the UK’s Home Nations. The ruling is already influencing other sporting bodies. The Scottish FA is reportedly preparing to adopt a similar stance, and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is expected to announce comparable restrictions following legal consultations. A decision from the ECB could be confirmed at its board meeting on Friday. England Netball has also updated its guidance, moving to exclude transgender women from its female category as of Thursday.

After The Shade Borough posted the ruling on our Instagram page, one commenter wrote, "They can have their own league. Simple." A second added, "Well, it is a logical decision. You can’t have an argument against it, based on science." But a third disagreed writing, "The UK / FA has just instigated national policy to specifically target fewer than two dozen people from playing casual sports with their mates."