- ‘Difficult decision’ on trans women based on legal advice
- Goal Diggers FC march 12 miles to deliver protest letter
Mark Bullingham, the chief executive of the Football Association, has written to London grassroots football club Goal Diggers FC explaining the governing body’s decision to ban transgender women from women’s football “was not an ideological judgment, but a difficult decision” based on legal advice that a “change in policy was necessary” following the supreme court ruling which said the term “woman” in the Equality Act refers only to a biological woman.
Representatives of Goal Diggers undertook a 12-mile walk from their training pitches in Haggerston Park to Wembley Stadium to deliver their open letter to the FA. In it they demanded a reversal of the ban on transgender women from women’s football and described the FA’s decision as a “pitiful and weak response” to the supreme court’s ruling. Bullingham said the FA understands “how difficult this decision will be for people who want to play football in the gender by which they identify, and we are aware of the significant impact this will have on them”, added it “also understands that it will have repercussions for Goal Diggers FC – your players, coaches, volunteers and fans – who all play an important role in championing diversity in football.”
