Member

Those are admirable aims but I do not think they should be in the Bill; nor should it be the role of a powerful regulator to make them happen. I also think that women’s football should be dealt with elsewhere. But as corporate governance keeps coming up and discrimination is alleged, it is worth pointing out that the spirit of the amendments—to encourage girls and young women to love and play football, and to allow them to have equal access to training—will fail unless we untangle the thorny issue of a definition of what both sexes are and what we mean by gender diversity. Many parents of girls will be reluctant to encourage their daughters to train and play while the Football Association continues to allow men who identify as women into women’s teams based on the suppression of their testosterone. As suppressing testosterone has no impact on a man’s size and build, and very little effect on his speed or strength, the result is that many young women and girls facing such players are fearful of injury and find they cannot compete equally.