header-logo header-logo

Changing rooms?

23 May 2025 / Fiona McAnena , Anya Palmer
Issue: 8117 / Categories: Opinion , Sports law , Equality , Diversity , Human rights
printer mail-detail
219538
Fiona McAnena & Anya Palmer on why the inclusion policies of some sports bodies & their member clubs are not based on good law

Sports governing bodies across the UK are waking up to the fact that letting biological men into the women’s category and into their changing rooms is not the ‘inclusive’ measure they thought it was. There is growing evidence that it is the very opposite, a policy that drives women and girls away from sport.

On 1 May, the governing bodies for Scottish and English football dropped their policies allowing trans-identifying male players into women’s teams if they demonstrated lowered testosterone levels. The England and Wales Cricket Board, which governs cricket in England and Wales, abandoned its two-tier policy of female-only in the top two tiers of women’s cricket and self-identification for all the rest. England Netball finally followed its world governing body in recognising that women’s games must not include male players.

Other national governing bodies are defending flawed policies. This is illustrated by the Table Tennis England policy, which is a typical example from

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team

Excello Law—Heather Horsewood & Darren Barwick

Excello Law—Heather Horsewood & Darren Barwick

North west team expands with senior private client and property hires

Ward Hadaway—Paul Wigham

Ward Hadaway—Paul Wigham

Firm boosts corporate team in Newcastle to support high-growth technology businesses

NEWS

NOTICE UNDER THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925

HERBERT SMITH STAFF PENSION SCHEME (THE “SCHEME”)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND BENEFICIARIES UNDER SECTION 27 OF THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
Law firm HFW is offering clients lawyers on call for dawn raids, sanctions issues and other regulatory emergencies
From gender-critical speech to notice periods and incapability dismissals, employment law continues to turn on fine distinctions. In his latest employment law brief for NLJ, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School reviews a cluster of recent decisions, led by Bailey v Stonewall, where the Court of Appeal clarified the limits of third-party liability under the Equality Act
Non-molestation orders are meant to be the frontline defence against domestic abuse, yet their enforcement often falls short. Writing in NLJ this week, Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer and Oliver Kavanagh analyse why the criminalisation of breach has failed to deliver consistent protection
Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961
back-to-top-scroll