With two months to the start of the premier women’s football competition in the continent, the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in the North African country of Morocco, the news of the ban of transgender women from playing women’s football in England would not have come at a better time than now.
England football governing body called The Football Association (FA) on Thursday, May 1, 2025, announced alongside England Netball that they have banned transgender women from women’s teams, saying that they took legal advice in the wake of last month’s Supreme Court ruling, which said that the term “woman” in the Equality Act refers only to a biological woman (at birth).
For this reason, the FA in England has made it abundantly clear that from June 1, 2025, transgender women will no longer be allowed to play women’s football as the policy will be implemented to the later just as campaigners have for long called for football to follow sports such as Rugby Union and Hockey to restrict women’s sport to those born female, citing safety and fairness concerns.
The ban on transgender women from playing women’s football in England is following on the heels of the Executive Order that prevents transgender women from competing in female categories of sports signed last February by the President of United States of America, Donald J. Trump.
With the United States and England leading the crusade against the continued participation of transgender women from playing women’s football, it is expected that the gale of ban on transgender women from playing women’s football will catch up with Africa countries.
Should this happen, it will be a big win for African campaigners who posited that it is morally wrong and unfair to allow players who
have gender eligibility issues to be allowed to take part in women’s sports and in women’s football in particular.
Specifically, the furore that greeted the participation of three players of Tout Puissant Mazembe otherwise called TP Mazembe Ladies FC of Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) alleged to have high testosterone levels in the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League (WCL) hosted by Morocco from 9 to 23 November, 9 -23, 2024 was so loud that it has made it imperative for the African football governing body, the Confederation of African (CAF) to ensure that its Gender Verification Law is fully observed before the 2024 WAFCON which kicks off in Morocco on July 5, 2025.
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*Why CAF Must Insist On High Testosterone Test*
With the recent stand taken by The FA, it will be foolhardy for other FAs across the world, continental football governing bodies and, indeed, the global football ruling body, Federation of International Football Federation (FIFA) to allow players who have gendergender eligibility issues or high testosterone to continue to be part of women’s football eligibility issues or high testosterone to continue to be part of women’s football.
It will, therefore, be a big surprise for CAF to allow transgender women or those who have gender eligibility issues or high testosterone to continue to be part of women’s football especially to take part in the forthcoming WAFCON in Morocco as they will leave tongues wagging.
The outcry against CAF’s decision to allow three players of TP Mazembe Ladies FC of Democratic Republic of Congo, namely Lacho Flora Marta, Marlène Kasaj and Merveille Kanjinga, alleged to have gender eligibility issues but were allowed to play and win the 4th edition of CAFWCL) tournament in Morocco has once again brought to the fore the vexed issue of gender eligibility in women’s football in Africa.
Unfortunately, some countries in Africa, including nations that will take part in the upcoming WAFCON in Morocco, have in their teams players that have dark cloud over their eligibility status; with visible masculine features that put question mark on their actual gender.
Indeed, the furore over gender eligibility in women’s football in Africa did not start today because
CAF had years ago acted on the complaints of gender eligibility against players of the Equatorial Guinea senior women’s football team.
For example, CAF had on November 25, 2010 agreed to investigate claims about the gender of some players who played for Equatorial Guinea at the 2010 African Women’s Championship (AWC) in South Africa after Nigeria’s official complaint against Equatorial Guinea players in spite of the Super Falcons beating Equatorial Guinea 4-2 in the final of the tournament.
The African football governing body (CAF) acknowledged that Nigeria was the only country to have made a complaint despite the fact that Equatorial Guinea also beat Banyana Banyana and Ghana in the qualifiers, adding that the issue will be dealt with primarily by CAF Sports Medicine Group.
Although CAF, after receiving the report of its Committee, acted by suspending Equatorial Guinean’s football federation for its continued use of ineligible players, including players from
Spain, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Nigeria (like striker Chinasa Okoro), as well as fielding players with high testosterone levels.
The ‘Nzalang Femenino’ were kicked out of qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics for fielding ineligible players and the world football ruling body FIFA made the ban worldwide. The country was again banned in 2016 by CAF for bringing the game to odium.
Now, fast forward to 2022 when Zambia’s star player Barbra Banda was left out of the Copper Queens’ WAFCON team after the Zambian Football Association (FAZ) claimed she failed a Gender-Verification Test. The test results were not made public, but some people accused Banda of being transgender.
The Zambia national team captain, Orlando Pride goalscorer and the reigning CAF Women’s Footballer of the Year 2024 was also told she could not play in the 2022 FIFA World Cup African qualifying matches on gender eligibility grounds, although Zambia still qualified for the women’s mundial without her contributions.
The immensely gifted player who prior to the ban won 2022 COSAFA Women’s Championship with Zambia and was voted COSAFA Women’s Championship top scorer and Chinese Women’s Super League (WSL) top scorer in 2020 was later reinstated to the team and made her debut at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Banda later captained Zambia to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In recent times, there have been several gender-related issues in women’s sports, including women’s football and Africa too, with the Equatorial Guinea and Zambia women’s teams being accused of featuring players with eligibility issues at different times in continental competitions including the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League (CAFWCL) in Morocco which Tout Puissant (TP) Mazembe Ladies team featured no fewer than three players alleged to have gender eligibility questions.
The clubside from the Democratic Republic of Congo won the continental women’s premier club competition in Morocco for the first time with the active participation of Lacho Flora Marta, Marlène Kasaj and Merveille Kanjinga, the three players in the eye of the storm.
Meanwhile, it has become imperative for CAF to implement fully its Gender Verification Law, which stipulates that: “All players had to undergo gender verification prior to its competitions”. This is to ensure that women only are allowed to play women’s football for the fact that football stands on fairness without any undue advantage to one side.
In the spirit of Fairplay, CAF Medical Committee should insist on gender verification rule because should this rule fail to be applied then there will be chaos as every country and every team will recruit female players with high testosterone levels to compete in the 2024 WAFCON Finals which will kick off in Morocco on July 5, 2025.
Any attempt to allow players with gender eligibility issues to participate in the forthcoming WAFCON in Morocco will definitely take the shine off what is expected to be the best CAF flagship women’s football tournament ever in July 2025.
Fortunately, Nigeria has been in the forefront of sanitising the women’s game as the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has several years ago taken firm steps not to allow players with gender eligibility issues in the national teams no matter how good or important the player is to the team.
For this reason, Nigeria has played clean and won the WAFCON trophy for the unprecedented 11 times and her women players have won the CAF Women’s Footballer of the Year more than any other country in Africa without any blemish.
The country has religiously adhered to the rules governing the beautiful game including CAF Rules which stipulates that all female players must undergo a pre-tournament gender verification test. The country also follows the FIFA rules, which stipulate that the federations are to ensure that players meet the gender criteria as it only asks for tests if there have been complaints about a player’s gender.
FIFA is understood to have its policy on players with elevated testosterone under review, insisting that it is monitoring the latest legal and medical updates. But it also stresses that it takes its ultimate guidance from the IOC.
The IOC is already under intense pressure to explain how it allowed two boxers, Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, to compete against women in Paris despite failing biochemical sex tests last Olympic Games in Paris, France.
Finally, it has to be said that the ban on transgender women from playing women’s football in England beginning from next month is a welcome development and a step in the right direction. It is also a decision worthy of emulation by various FAs across the world in a bid to ensure that only women play “women’s football” and not “Fe-Male football”, for the good of the women’s game.
This is the way to go.
*Harry Awurumibe, is a women football expert
