The House of Lords has condemned a ban on autistic female teenagers making transgender comments

The six-match ban was imposed a young female footballer for asking a “bearded” transgender opponent, “Are you a man?” was condemned in the House of Lords by Lord Triesman, the former chairman of the Football Association.

The bon vivant has denounced the provincial FA who sued the 17-year-old, who suspects autism, and the FA itself over rules allowing born males to play in the women’s game, adding: “I am not going to let it rest.”

The comments from Lord Triesman, who had highlighted the plight of the young woman in a letter to Debbie Hewitt, FA chairman, and Mark Bullingham, FA chief executive, after Telegraph Sports revealed the 17-year-old faced a twelve-match suspensionprompted cries of ‘hear, hear’ from colleagues in the House of Lords.

He claimed that during his time as FA chairman between 2008 and 2010, it had been discovered that matches involving both men and women had a “tendency to produce unfair competition” and “a very, very significant number of injuries”.

Triesman added: “And so I say with regret this afternoon: shame on the Lancashire County Football Association, backed by the FA itself, because an autistic 17-year-old girl has been given a 12-match ban for asking for a major , and a really quite aggressive bearded trans woman, was allowed to participate in the competition in which she played. She was immediately accused of transphobia and Lancashire seemed to disregard her neurodiversity. But I must say that it seems to me that she has been treated in a shabby manner, and I have no intention of letting that rest.’

Mr Triesman, who Telegraph Sports has reportedly been invited to meet current FA chiefs to discuss his concerns, was joined in condemning the teenager’s ban by former Brexit Party member Baroness Fox.

‘She was put in the dock by the FA’

Applauded for her fellow colleague’s “persistence and courage in raising this issue of fairness and safety in women’s football” during what was a debate about the new football governance law On Wednesday evening, Baroness Fox said of the teenager’s fate: “Ironically, she was put in the dock by the FA in the same week that the FA announced its new disability policy, entitled ‘Football Without Borders’. There are no boundaries unless you are a young autistic woman who offends gender ideology, it seems. So much for inclusion.”

As revealed by Telegraph Sports this week, hundreds of women plan a protest during England’s Nations League match against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday due to the teenager’s penalty. She was suspended for six matches last month, four of which for a year.

Telegraph Sports has agreed not to name her because she is a child and on the assessment path for autism.

An FA spokesperson said: “Millions of people play grassroots football every week and we are proud of the many opportunities available to those who want to play and enjoy the game.

“We understand that this is a complex matter, and we are very aware of and respect the strong views on all sides. This particular case was heard by an independent national serious cases panel and they issued a sanction for breach of FA rules. However, given the age of some of those involved, we are unable to publish the full details of the case, and out of respect for everyone involved, we are not in a position to comment further.”

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