Thursday, June 23, 2022 at 5:37 PM• Wessel Antes • Last update: 17:44

Following a decision by the German Football Association DFB, transgender and non-binary people in German amateur football can now choose whether they want to participate in men’s or women’s football. So it no longer matters whether footballers are born as boys or girls.

The discussion was raised in the country because in Germany it has been possible since 2018 to tick the box variously next to ‘man’ or ‘woman’ for personal identification documents. Now the DFB has taken the decision to let amateur football players choose for themselves in which team they want to play. Non-binary persons do not feel specifically male or female. A transgender is someone who wants to change their gender, or has already changed.

Currently, there is no universal rule for the participation of trans or non-binary athletes in the sports world. That is why it is possible for each association to make its own rules. That is the advice of the International Olympic Committee. The new rule will apply to German amateur football from next season. The new rule also helps transgender people in their transition process: they can now decide for themselves whether they continue to play for their current team or switch to a team of their new gender.

Christian Rudolph, main contact person for gender and sexual diversity at the DFB, is very pleased with the decision the association has made.” It is very important that the DFB has provided clarification on this subject. Amateur football should be possible for everyone. It was a long but important process. This is a big step towards self-determination for amateur footballers in Germany.”