FA not making football ‘fair or safe’ for women by inaction over transgender policy

Lord Triesman, the former chairman of the Football Association, has said he is “deeply concerned” that the governing body he used to lead is “not providing women and girls with fair, safe sport” because of its policy of allowing biological males to compete in the female category.

In a sharply critical letter to Debbie Hewitt and Mark Bullingham, the FA’s chair and chief executive respectively, Lord Triesman, who served as the organisation’s first independent chairman from 2008 to 2010, argues that his successors’ approach is not only compromising the integrity of women’s football but creating an atmosphere where many people feel frightened even to speak up about their concerns.

Lord Triesman refers to the case, reported last week by Telegraph Sport, of a 17-year-old girl with suspected autism facing a ban of up to 12 matches for asking an adult transgender opponent: “Are you a man?” The FA has continued to permit players born male to compete in female-only events, despite being urged in May by former Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer to adopt the “unambiguous position” of a ban.

“I am deeply concerned that the FA is not providing all women and girls with fair, safe football because of its policy allowing male players – those with XY chromosomes, but a transgender identity – to play in the women’s game,” Lord Triesman writes.

“This has led to significant problems of concern to people in football and, I estimate, a majority of parliamentarians. There is compelling evidence showing how even an individual trans-identifying male player can adversely impact a significant number of female players. It is especially problematic to see that even raising questions about this can lead to disciplinary action. This means that women and girls cannot expect fairness and cannot even raise a question if they see a male player who may or may not claim a transgender identity.

“Many other sports including athletics, swimming and cycling have, with some difficulty, amended their eligibility rules to protect the female category and its sporting integrity. This leaves football as by far the biggest sport not to have done so. As a contact sport, I would suggest the risks are self-evident.”

Lord Triesman explains that he is seeking a private member’s bill that will, with a few exceptions, make it unlawful to organise sporting events compelling genetically XY players to face biologically female opponents. “I believe there is a good chance of this becoming law,” he says. “I envisage most of the sanctions being civil but there are strong pressures to include criminal sanctions for organisers of what would be unlawful competition.”

‘Ensure fairness is fully restored’

The FA has been under significant pressure to change its stance since last December, when it received a letter from more than 70 MPs and members of the House of Lords – including Lord Triesman – demanding urgent action to protect women from the injury risks of playing against biological males. After Telegraph Sport’s revelation that at least four women’s teams in the Sheffield and Hallamshire League were refusing to play against Francesca Needham, a trans-identifying male accused of causing a season-ending injury to an opponent, MPs ordered the FA to “show leadership” and to abandon its position of allowing those born male to register to play in their “affirmed gender”.

In his latest intervention, Lord Triesman writes to the FA: “I understand your policy has been under review for some time and it would be good to hear what progress is being made and what the FA proposes to ensure fairness and safety are fully restored for female players. Can we meet to discuss? It would be great if you could intervene to ensure no woman or girl is disciplined for asking about fairness or safety. That is surely not a feature of our day and age.”

The FA said that it was happy to discuss its policy with Lord Triesman. It has consistently defended its position, saying in a statement earlier this year: “Our current transgender policy has been in place for 10 years, and it has helped to enable a very small population of transgender women to enjoy playing football safely in the grass-roots game. This is a complex and constantly evolving area, and our review remains ongoing as we monitor and support the practical application of our policy.”