Transgender footballers in Germany can choose men’s or women’s team

German football is bucking the recent trend of banning transgender women from women’s competition by allowing transgender, intersex and non-binary players to decide whether to play in men’s or women’s teams.

The German football federation passed a regulation for gender-nonconforming players with the civil status “diverse” or “unspecified” on Thursday.

“It also applies to transgender players who can now switch at a self-determined time or remain initially in the team in which they’d been playing previously,” the DFB said. “As long as the sporting activity does not affect the health of the person while they are taking medication, the person can take part in the game, which is why the new regulation excludes doping relevance.”

The rules take effect in the coming season and will be incorporated into the DFB’s game regulations for youth, futsal and amateur football.

Sabine Mammitzsch, who oversees women’s and girls’ football at the DFB, says there has long been a need for clarification.

“The state and regional associations, but also relevant people at grassroots level, have been signalling for a long time that there are uncertainties with how to accommodate transgender, intersex and non-binary players,” Mammitzsch said. “Therefore, they very much welcome the introduction of a national, comprehensive rule on the right to play.”

It follows world swimming’s ban of transgender women from women’s competitions last Sunday, and the International Rugby League’s ban of transgender athletes from women’s international matches.

“With the regulation of the right to play, we are creating further important prerequisites to enable players of different gender identities to play,” the DFB’s diversity officer, Thomas Hitzlsperger, said.

The