Members of three clubs made official complaints about a male being permitted to play in the Adelaide Australian Rules Football League. 

Instead of protecting women, the AFL has chosen to protect a male who is more than 6 foot tall and weighs around 92kg. Because … feelings.

Freya Golding, who plays for Westminster Old Scholars in the Adelaide Footy League after previously competing in the senior men’s competition, was the subject of formal complaints from three other clubs after an off-ball hit earlier this year.

Adelaide Footy League’s chief executive John Kernahan said last month that submissions had been made to a special AFL committee about player safety, citing concerns about “physical risk and duty of care”.

What is the actual point of a women’s division if men can play in it?

Where is the consent of female players?

Why are males given more protections than females?

Why is the AFL ignoring the genuine concerns around safety, fairness and dignity?

“The committee determined that it was not satisfied that the player’s participation in the competition gives rise to unacceptable safety risks,” the Committee said in an email.

“Accordingly, the player is permitted to continue to participate in the competition.”

The AFL said a new risk assessment could be undertaken if new information comes to light.

There are countless scientific studies that prove males have an advantage over females in sport, it is why there are male and female divisions in the first place!

Mr Kernahan said Golding was “six foot two or three, 92kg”.

“I appreciate the notion that there may be naturally born women that are six foot three and 92 kilos, but they are few and far between,” he said.

Even if there were many women this height and weight it still wouldn’t turn a male into a female. Female skeletal frames and hormones are different. Women deserve the right to female only sport, spaces and services. Men can participate in male, open or trans divisions without robbing women of their fairness, dignity and safety.

One encouraging note is the media including Nine News and the Daily Mail have chosen to identify this male player, images and all. 

It is curious that I took images from the public pages of football organisations and did the same thing but it was labelled vilification and violence to do so.

An image is worth a thousand words regarding this issue. Let’s hope the media continue to do their job and reveal the extent of this issue so more Australians can speak up.