"Just a few athletes? Nope" - Martina Navratilova reacts as transgender soccer player threatens to sue for discrimination after rivals refuse to play
Martina Navratilova recently reacted to an incident where a transgender athlete left her women's football club after her opponents refused to compete against her.
Francesca Needham, 30, a trans woman playing for the Rossington Main Ladies in South Yorkshire in the Sheffield and Hallamshire Women's League, was forced to withdraw from the team after four rival teams refused to compete against her for alleged 'safety' concerns. Previously, a player allegedly suffered a severe knee injury after blocking one of Needham's shots.
Having withdrawn from competing in the women's league, Needham has threatened to sue citing discrimination as she claims to have abided by all Football Association (FA) policies on transgender athletes.
The English FA's transgender policy dictates that transgender athletes may apply to play in a league of their "affirmed gender" and each application will be reviewed individually, based on several factors including the "safety of the applicant and other players" and "fair competition".
Former World No. 1 Martina Navratilova has long been an advocate for protecting women's sports by excluding transgender female athletes from competing alongside biological women. The 18-time Grand Slam champion recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to react to Needham's case.
"Teammates rally round transgender woman footballer who quit after rivals refused to compete against her after she left opponents 'terrified' and 'broke player's knee' - as she threatens to sue for discrimination. Just a few athletes, right? Nope…" Navratilova wrote in her post.
Martina Navratilova advises women to boycott sports that include transgender athletes in the same category
Martina Navratilova recently stressed that women should quit and boycott sports competitions where transgender athletes are allowed to compete in the same category as biological women.
The former World No. 1's advice came as a reaction to transgender athlete Alana McLaughlin, a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran, beating Celine Provost in an MMA fight. Martina Navratilova wrote on X:
"Just watched the whole video! Sickening. The technically superior fighter,a female, losing, laying in a pool of blood while the commentators cheer on the winner, a biological man., saying this is historical. Yup, it is that for all the wrong reasons. This is dangerous and unfair."
Although the 18-time Grand Slam winner agrees that women should not be the ones refraining from participating in sports tournaments, she maintains that a boycott could be the quickest method to yield favorable results for women.
"Women get the shaft either way, but some boycotts could be the fastest way to change the rules," Martina Navratilova wrote.
A user on X opined that women need to stop competing against transgender athletes, which Navratilova affirmed.
"Many sports women would have no way of knowing they are competing against men, also some don’t come out as trans. The only fair way forward is not allow biological men to compete in the first place; it is mostly men that make these rules who are in the position to change them," she wrote.