Former referee Janie Frampton has praised the Football Association's decision to ban transgender players from women's football, calling it "absolutely the right decision"
Her comments come after the news broke that transgender women will be barred from playing in women's football in England starting June 1, 2025.
The decision follows a landmark UK Supreme Court ruling on April 16 that determined the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex.
This ruling prompted the FA to review its current policy, which had allowed transgender women to participate in women's football.
Janie Frampton cited concerns about "physical differences"
GB NEWS
Speaking to GB News, Frampton cited concerns about "physical differences" between trans women and biological women in the sport.
She said: "This is absolutely the right decision, because I hear so many times from women playing against trans women that the tackles are harder.
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"The strength and stamina of trans women are much higher than those of women in general. This had to be the right decision.
"The only thing I’m surprised about is why the FA made their ruling in early April when they knew the court ruling was coming within a few weeks.
"Now, they’ve had to do a U-turn. They’ve set standards so high in the past, which is why they did lots of research around the gender of children and young people playing football."
"They ruled that, above under 13, you couldn’t have mixed genders for that very reason. And all the time, trans women are not biological women. It cannot be a fair playing field."
Speaking to Martin Daubney, she added: "As a woman, I am proud to have been born a woman. I’m proud to continue being a woman. But I don’t want to go into women’s safe spaces.
"I don’t want to change in a communal changing room in a department store with somebody who has a beard. I don’t want to. And if that’s wrong, then so be it. I’m wrong.
"I don’t want to go into gender-neutral toilets, where men often miss the seat, that’s not what I want."
"Both women of the same mind should have their own space. Trans women deserve their own space, but please don’t erode my rights just to give rights to another minority group."
The Football Association has announced a ban on transgender women from playing in women's football in England starting next seasonPA"This is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football then we would review it and change it if necessary," the FA said in a statement.
The Scottish Football Association made a similar decision last week.
FA's statement acknowledged the impact of the policy change on transgender players.
"We understand that this will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender by which they identify," the statement read.
