JK Rowling wades into controversy over Aussie women’s soccer team that won a grand final with five trans players

Harry Potter author and prominent gender-identity critic JK Rowling has taken up the cause of football fans who were left shocked by the news that an Australian women’s football side won a competition with a team featuring transgender players.

The Flying Bats team, which is based in north-west Sydney, made headlines last month when it was revealed they won a tournament with five trans soccer players, coming out on top in every game they played during the four-week competition.

They won the grand final of the pre-season Beryl Ackroyd Cup 4-0 after a dominant run that saw a trans player score six goals in a 10-0 victory.

On Wednesday, Rowling reposted a story about the controversy so her 14million followers on the social media platform X could read all about it.

The Flying Bats women’s team from Sydney (pictured) featured five trans players when they easily won a tournament earlier this year

The author’s account is full of links to stories about transgender people and her takes on the controversial topic.

Most recently, she was referred to Scottish police for referring to a number of transgender women including campaigners, convicted prisoners and celebrities as ‘men’ in a range of tweets.

Scottish police later confirmed no action will be taken against Rowling after she challenged new hate legislation in the country with that flurry of messages.

Her followers voiced their dismay at the news about the Flying Bats as they commented on her repost.

Furious parents have withdrawn their daughters from games in the team’s competition due to safety concerns, claiming players were unaware that they had signed up to compete against biological males.

Club officials have also contacted governing body Football NSW to express their concerns, with some insisting that the Flying Bats should play in the mixed competition, which includes men. 

Rowling is a noted gender identity critic whose posts on social media frequently feature stories around transgender issues and her often controversial takes on them

‘Our girls are here to play for fun and expect to play in the female competition. They did not sign up for a mixed competition,’ a senior club official told the Daily Telegraph.

‘There’s no transparency from Football NSW, the girls don’t know if they are going to be playing biological males or not.’

On the Flying Bats’ official website, they claim they are ‘the biggest LGBTQIA+ women’s and non-binary football club in the world’.

Club president Jennifer Peden told Daily Mail Australia: ‘As a club, the Flying Bats FC stand strongly for inclusion, and pride ourselves on safe, respectful and fair play, the promotion of a supportive community for LGBTQIA+ players, officials and supporters, and the significant physical, social and mental health benefits that participation in sport brings, especially to marginalised members of the LGBTQIA+ community. We are a club that values our cisgender and transgender players equally.

‘We strongly support the Australian Human Rights Commission’s guidelines for the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in sport. 

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, the Flying Bats revealed the team ‘stands strongly for inclusion’ and has been fielding trans players ‘for at least 20 years’

‘These guidelines, along with the Sex Discrimination Act, inform the gender inclusion policies of Football Australia, Football NSW, and the North West Sydney Football Association at the community, grassroots level at which we play.

‘Trans women belong in the women’s competition because that is the gender with which they identify. Trans women have played with the club for at least 20 years, at levels ranging from beginner to skilled, just like our cis women players.

‘Our players are graded on ability, and placed in the team that is most appropriate for their skill and experience level.’

John Ruddick, a Libertarian Party MP who has campaigned on the issue of retaining biological sex rights, also blasted the scenes in the North West Sydney League.

‘It’s not just a question of fair sportsmanship,’ Mr Ruddick said. ‘It’s also a question of physical safety for female players born female.’

Binary Australia spokeswoman Kirralie Smith said: ‘North West Sydney Football and Football NSW continue to put girls at risk and create an unfair playing field.’

A Football NSW spokesperson said the organisation takes ‘pride in being at the forefront of developing inclusive policies for the sport in Australia and operates within the existing legal framework, including anti-discrimination legislation’.

NSW Libertarian politician John Ruddick (pictured) claimed the ‘physical safety’ of opposition players was at risk when they played the Flying Bats

‘Football NSW continues to align with Football Australia’s adoption of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Guidelines for the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in sport’, under which, community players are permitted to participate in Football on the basis of the gender with which they identify,’ the spokesperson said.

The Australian Sports Commission’s statement on trans and gender diverse inclusion reads: ‘All Australians should have the opportunity to be involved in sport and physical activity, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, ability, cultural background or ethnicity.

‘It is important that sporting bodies, from local clubs through to national sporting organisations, reflect the diversity in the communities they are a part of, and that together, we ensure every person is treated with respect and dignity and protected from discrimination.’