Second footballer suspended for asking if her opponents were male

A second female teenager has received a six-match ban for asking if her opponents were men.

The anonymous 18-year-old, who has ADHD and learning difficulties, alledgedly asked if “all of their players are eligible to play? Look at their keeper and for example their number 10 is obviously a man”. When the referee reportedly threatened to send her off for pursuing the question, she asked her opponents about the issue.

In a similar recent case, a 17-year-old with suspected autism was temporarily banned after the Football Association (FA) found her guilty of “discrimination” for asking a bearded player “Are you a man?”

Punishment

The 18-year-old, who has been forced to take an “online education course” in addition to her team’s seven disciplinary points, said she raised the question because of her opponents’ “extremely aggressive” playing style.

But speaking to Telegraph Sport, she explained that the FA’s decision has “kind of made me hate football”.

“If I say anything else, I get another six-game ban. So I can’t even stand up for myself at this point.”

‘Disgraceful’

Fiona McAnena, Director of Campaigns at Sex Matters, said: “It’s disgraceful that another teenage girl has been suspended for daring to challenge the presence of a male player in a women’s game. The FA has punished her for asking a question that matters for her own safety, and for fairness for all girls.”

How can the FA say it supports the women’s game when girls are being suspended for pointing out there is a man on the pitch?

“How many other cases are there like this? How long can the FA continue to claim that there is no problem? How can the FA say it supports the women’s game when girls are being suspended for pointing out there is a man on the pitch?”

The FA’s protocols currently allow men who identify as women to participate in women’s games, despite criticism that this goes against the 2010 Equality Act, which allows restrictions in sports if they are needed to uphold fair or safe competition.

Biological advantage

Last month, England Hockey declared that only players “recorded female at birth” will be allowed to play in the women’s game.

The governing body, which is set to implement its new Trans and Non-Binary Participation Policy in September, said the “physical strength, stamina or physique” of an average biological woman “would put them at a disadvantage” compared to the average biological man.

It said it had “placed necessary and proportionate restrictions” on eligibility for male players who identify as women or ‘non-binary’, in the “spirit of fairness in competition”.