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Francesca Needham, a transgender soccer player from England, has drawn sharp criticism from former tennis player Martina Navratilova over discrimination claims.
Needham plays for Rossington Main FC Ladies in the Sheffield & Hallamshire Women & Girls League in England. A few teams competing in the league recently decided not to participate in a match against Rossington's team, with Needham being in the squad, for the player's alleged involvement in causing a severe knee injury to another player.
As a result, Needham stepped down from the team's roster and released a statement threatening to file a lawsuit for being discriminated against.
"This unfortunate circumstance has prompted me to investigate pursuing a case of discrimination, as I believe it represents a breach of the code of conduct regarding diversity and inclusion, as well as safeguarding of adults in football established by both the Football Association and the Sheffield and Hallamshire Women and Girls League," Needham said.
"Therefore, in the best interests of my club and my supportive teammates who stand beside me, I have made the decision to step down from playing football for the foreseeable future," the 30-year-old added.
Needham argued that the boycott is against the Football Association's policies, writing:
"It's disheartening to acknowledge that this situation contradicts everything in the diversity and inclusion policies, given that I have diligently met every single requirement set out by the Football Association to play.
"I sincerely hope that this issue of perceived discrimination against me can be resolved peacefully and promptly, with the full support of the Football Association and the policies they have written and approved," Needham concluded.
Martina Navratilova took to X (formerly Twitter) to register her response to the situation recently. She slammed Needham, writing:
"Seems breaking someone’s leg wasn’t enough for this jerk."
Martina Navratilova condemns provisions to allow male athletes to participate in female field hockey competitions in Massachusetts
Martina Navratilova recently protested against a Massachusetts law that grants male field hockey players permission to play alongside female players.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion's outrage came after a woman lost two of her teeth from the ball hit by a male counterpart during a high-school level event. The injured player had to be rushed to hospital immediately.
Navratilova decried the law on X, saying:
"Teenage female hockey player loses teeth after being hit by shot from male opponent- "The arguments generally fail due to the lack of correlation between injuries and mixed-gender teams."- are you kidding me???"
