A leading campaigner has called it “unfair” that a teenage female footballer received a six-match ban for questioning if transgender opponents were men.
Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns at Sex Matters, told GB News: “It’s a women’s league. They’re women’s football teams, no one expects to run out onto the field and see a bloke.”
“The irony is that if she said that to a woman, people would laugh it off and they’d move on and play the game. But because these people really are men claiming to be women, then the FA deems that to be gross misconduct,” she added.
The 18-year-old player was sanctioned by a National Serious Case Panel after an incident during a match in September.
McAnena hit out at the treatment of a teenage football player by the FA
GB News / Getty
A complaint was filed by the opposition club, which claimed she had also said “this is a man” to their non-trans players.
The player admitted questioning opposing team members about their biological sex after the referee threatened to send her off.
McAnena warned about the physical challenges faced by female players in matches involving transgender opponents.
“Football is a very physical game, it’s a full contact game. The difference between men and women in strength, particularly upper body strength in speed and power is very significant,” she told GB News.
The 18-year-old female footballer with ADHD and learning difficulties received a six-match ban for questioning whether transgender opponents in her match were men
PA
She described how some women avoid tackles entirely, claiming: “If you go in for a tackle, you just get shouldered off the ball, you land on the ground. If you get injured, that’s you out.”
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McAnena called the suspension “disgraceful” and questioned how long the FA could “claim that there is no problem.”
She warned that many sports had waited “until a man is about to hit the big time in the women’s game before acting to protect the female category”.
She told GB News: “Why is it reasonable to expect a teenage girl to share changing rooms with someone like that?
“But right now, the way the FA rules are, she’s the one who’s in trouble if she objects.”
McAnena told GB News warned that football is ‘getting worse’
GB News
McAnena expressed concern that football could see an increase in transgender players, as other major sports like swimming, cycling, and athletics have changed their rules.
An FA spokesman said: “This case was heard by an independent National Serious Case Panel in November 2024, and they issued a sanction for a breach of FA rules. The charges were immediately accepted by the player.”
The FA stated they could not publish written reasons to protect players and respect confidential details.
They added: “We regularly review our processes in this area and we will always look to take the appropriate steps to challenge improper conduct in our game.”
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