Separate but equals? A Philosophical Evaluation of mixed-sex football in England

Abstract

The Football Association (FA) has imposed a ban on mixed-sex football beyond age 18 on the basis that (after age 18) males have an unfair advantage and females face an unacceptable risk of injury. In this paper, we critically evaluate the FA’s rationale and conclude that restriction on the grounds of fairness or harm is unpersuasive. We also argue that there are compelling reasons to remove the limitation on individual female players having access to the highest (or preferred) level of competition. Finally, we present reasons for rejecting forced sex- integration and consider the potential consequences of the recent rule changes governing mixed-sex football in age groups U7-U18 in England.