White House demands Fifa ban transgender footballers before committing to 2031 Women's World Cup bid

Jack Otway
Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:28:20 +0000

President Donald Trump's administration is refusing to commit to a United States-led bid to stage the 2031 Women's World Cup, insisting that FIFA first adopt a policy barring transgender athletes from women's professional football.

The White House is pressing football's global governing body to mirror the International Olympic Committee's recent stance on the matter.

Trump has not yet authorised the necessary commitments covering visas, tax exemptions and security arrangements that any World Cup host nation must provide.

These guarantees, typically processed via the host country's football federation before submission to FIFA, remain outstanding despite the bid being officially lodged in October.

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The joint bid involving the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica was expected to receive FIFA approval at the congress scheduled for 30 April, but this has been postponed until later in the year.

Multiple sources familiar with the bidding process, speaking anonymously as they lacked authorisation to comment publicly, have revealed the true reason behind the delay to The Athletic.

With no competing bids for the 2031 tournament, the Trump administration holds considerable bargaining power over FIFA.

The president signed an executive order in February 2025 titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports", which prohibits athletes from participating in women's competitions unless they were assigned female at birth.

FIFA has stated the postponement aims to create a "standalone event" celebrating women's football's growing influence.

The 2035 bid from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has similarly been delayed to form part of this occasion.

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Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup, declared: "President Trump's leadership has set a new standard for protecting the integrity of women's sports.

"His decisive action has codified that it shall 'be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women's sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.'"

The IOC announced mandatory gene testing in March that will prevent transgender athletes from competing in women's events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

World Athletics introduced comparable requirements last July ahead of September's Tokyo World Championships.

FIFA has spent nearly four years reviewing its gender eligibility regulations yet remains without updated guidance, still operating under 2011 rules that set no testosterone thresholds.

The issue divides opinion within women's football. Retired US star Megan Rapinoe told Time magazine in 2023: "Oh, now we care about fairness? Now we care about women's sports?

"That's total bulls*t. And show me all the trans people who are nefariously taking advantage of being trans in sports. It's just not happening."

An NBC News poll from April 2025 found 75 per cent of American adults oppose allowing transgender women to compete in women's sports.

A Pew Research Center survey from early 2025 showed 66 per cent favour policies requiring transgender athletes to compete according to their sex assigned at birth.