There were significant bits of history made at the FIFA Women’s World Cup this week.
Katie McCabe, who spent a loan spell at Glasgow City some seasons back, scored the Republic of Ireland’s first ever Women’s World Cup goal with her former club cheering her on from Glasgow.
There was another notable moment, too.
In their opening World Cup game against Nigeria, Quinn, the Canadian midfielder became the first transgender player to compete in a FIFA World Cup.
Quinn has long been a mainstay of the Canadian squad - and helped them to win the Olympics two years ago. In Canada there has been widespread acceptance of their position in the national team to the point where it has faded in terms of the attention that it attracts.
The player - born female - came out as non-binary in September 2020, dropped their old first name and asked to be known only by a mononym - a name composed of only one word - and saying they would use the pronouns 'they/them'.
Quinn uses no testosterone advancements but the little bit of history they made would suggest that the sports argument of transgender players competing is one that is not going to go away any time soon.
Given that Quinn was born as a female, they have no physiological advantages over fellow players but it is increasingly inevitable that there will be transitioned players who were born as the opposite sex wishing to compete at some point; as has been the case in swimming, cycling and weight lifting.
How wide should the door open?
It has become a polemic question, contentious and causing quick, angry reactions from either side of the debate. There are a tiny number of transgender athletes but the discourse around their involvement has been profound as key questions of gender identity and biological advantages surface.
To ignore these questions risks undermining the essence of women’s sport. Nuanced debate is absolutely necessary as these questions set to become more prominent in the months ahead but there is a suspicion that there is a fear of people speaking out against transgender players in case there is an accusation of intolerance. One need only look at how this argument rages on social media forums to understand a reluctance to voice an opinion on such a difficult topic. Yet all voices need to be heard in this.
Scotland captain Rachel Corsie has spoken publicly about accepting transgender players suggesting she would have no issue playing with or against them. It echoes a view from Megan Rapinoe, the American internationalist, who said prior to the World Cup that the debate had been ‘weaponised’ and that she too would be happy to play alongside and compete against transgender players.
The SFA have recently anonymously surveyed players as part of a review which looked at how trans women “can safely take part in the women’s game.”
It is an important conversation that needs to take place.
The SFA’s current rules are aligned with Scottish Government guidance, which says transgender footballers can play for women’s teams – although with the added caveat that individual players must prove their testosterone levels have been brought down to within the female range.
Peer reviewed studies show that even after testosterone suppression, top trans women retain a substantial edge when competing against top biological women.
Scottish Rugby have already banned trans women from taking part in female contact rugby. Cycling's governing body, the UCI, which has changed its transgender policy to make the female category a "protected class.” Female transgender athletes who have transitioned after (male) puberty are prohibited from participating in women's events."
There is a need for football’s governing bodies to decide exactly where the line is going to be.
AND ANOTHER THING
Erin Cuthbert has spent this summer doing exactly as she did last summer; hiding from the coverage of a major tournament. Last year the women’s Euros were a tough watch for those based south of the border - and significantly tougher by the end of the summer. While this year the FIFA Women’s World Cup has not been quite so readily available given the time disparity between here and Australia and New Zealand which has meant games haven’t come during prime time viewing hours, Cuthbert has taken no chances.
While most of her Scotland team-mates have moved on from their failure to qualify for the tournament after their failure to see off the Republic of Ireland last October in the play-off final at Hampden, the Chelsea midfielder has struggled to cheer on domestic colleagues.
Pedro Martinez Losa will hope that the fire within Cuthbert that will be stoked by two successive summers pointedly ignoring events unfolding elsewhere will form part of the drive for Scotland as they approach the September Nations League campaign. Scotland will open with an away game to England which will be played at the Stadium of Light rather than Wembley which had originally been touted.
If there is a disappointment that it’s not going to be held at Wembley, Scotland will care not if they can get a fresh campaign up and running with a positive result.
AND FINALLY
Ian Wright is guaranteed a warm welcome at any women’s football side he may care to rock up at.
As Nigeria look set to qualify for the knockout stages of the Women’s World Cup for the third time, the pundit put out a simple tweet: ‘Pay them.’
The Super Eagles have had a chaotic build-up to the tournament with disputes over unpaid wages, poor travel arrangements and the cancellation of a pre-tournament camp.
Players were close to boycotting their opening game after it emerged that the guaranteed $30,000 per player from FIFA will go through individual federations rather than straight to the players.
