CNN
 — 

Transgender women will be barred from playing in women’s soccer in England from June 1, the English Football Association (FA) announced on Thursday.

“We understand that this will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender by which they identify, and we are contacting the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game,” the organizing body for soccer in Britain said in a statement.

The FA clarified to CNN Sports that this ban will impact all levels of women’s soccer, from the professional game to the grassroots level.

CNN understands that there are around 20 transgender women who could be affected by this ruling, all playing in the amateur levels of the game.

The decision comes after the UK’s Supreme Court ruled last month that the legal definition of “woman” excludes trans women in a case that is expected to impact accommodations for trans women in bathrooms, hospital wards, sports clubs and more.

Britain’s highest court ruled unanimously that the definition of a woman in equality legislation refers to “a biological woman and biological sex,” sparking celebrations outside court among gender-critical campaigners but warnings it was a “worrying” development for transgender people.

Just days before the April 16 ruling from the UK’s Supreme Court, the FA had updated its policy on transgender women playing in women’s soccer to allow trans women who had kept their testosterone levels below 5.0 nanomoles per liter of blood for 12 months prior to a match and thereafter to continue to participate.

In Thursday’s statement, the FA said that its previous policy, which allowed trans women to play in the women’s game, was based on the principle of making “football accessible to as many people as possible” and “supported by expert legal advice,” as well as falling in the laws outlined by UEFA and FIFA, the governing bodies for European and global soccer respectively.

CNN has reached out to FIFA, UEFA and LGBTQ activist group Athlete Ally for comment.

“This is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football then we would review it and change it if necessary,” the FA said.

The FA’s announcement comes days after its Scottish counterpart did similar in banning transgender women from playing soccer from the start of next season.

When contacted by CNN, LGBTQ activist group Stonewall called the FA’s and Scottish FA’s decisions “incredibly disappointing,” referencing their previous support for the Rainbow Laces campaign, aimed at increasing inclusivity in soccer.

“The (decision) … has been made too soon, before the implications of the Supreme Court’s ruling has been worked through by lawyers and politicians or become law,” a Stonewall spokesperson said.

“Trans women young and old who love football will be deeply distressed that they are no longer able to take part in games, at all levels. Trans people remain protected under the law and need to be treated with dignity and respect – and this announcement lacks any detail on how those obligations will be honoured.

“Hasty decisions, without a full understanding of the practical implications and before any changes to guidance have gone through the necessary consultation and parliamentary process, isn’t the answer.”

CNN
 — 

Lamine Yamal is still only 17 years old, didn’t you know?

The chances are you’ve heard that a lot recently, especially over the past 24 hours following his sumptuous performance against Inter Milan in the Champions League. But it really does bear repeating because what Yamal is doing at 17 is not normal.

And you’ll probably be hearing it a lot more until July 13, when he turns 18.

Even Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, by far the two best players of their generation, didn’t even come close to touching the heights Yamal has already.

This stat will give you some idea as to just how far Yamal is along in his development.

At 17, Messi had played in nine matches, scored one goal and provided zero assists. Ronaldo had five goals and four assists in 19 matches. Yamal? 100 matches, 22 goals and 33 assists.

Again, this is not normal.

Since making his first-team debut aged 15 in 2023, Yamal has already gone on to win a La Liga title, a Copa del Rey and the 2024 European Championships with Spain.

But it’s not just that Yamal is consistently producing the goods when it matters most, he does so with a swagger and fearlessness that belies his green years.

He plays with total joy and freedom, too, as though each time he steps onto the pitch he’s merely having a kickaround with his friends at the park.

The way Yamal can control his body, feinting this way and that and transferring his body weight from one side to the other, makes him a nightmare to defend.

One moment against Inter highlighted this control perfectly, as Yamal dropped a shoulder and produced a perfect ‘Marseille turn’ to bamboozle two defenders.

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick called Yamal “a genius.”

“He’s special,” Flick told reporters. “After the game, when you see the situations he has in the match, you see all the details and it’s unbelievable how he does it.”

Inter manager Simone Inzaghi described Yamal as a generational talent.

“Lamine caused us so many problems,” he told reporters, per Marca. “He’s a talent that comes along every 50 years. I saw him live for the first time today; we doubled up on marking him, tripled him, and he still did that.

“We tweaked some things; it’s easier in front of a computer or a microphone. He’s a player who impressed me and caused us a lot of problems in the last half hour.”

TNT pundit and former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said Yamal’s performance on Wednesday was “mesmerizing this whole stadium.”

“Just to see a young 17-year-old, the amount of times he actually had the ball, the amount of times he impacted a sequence of play,” Ferdinand said on TNT.

“Every part of his foot he was using today; the different detail, the different ways he was moving his body to receive the ball, just every facet of his game today was on show, and it was quite beautiful to be here and be a part of.”

Ferdinand also praised Yamal’s decision making and the way he is able to make an impression at crucial times in a match.

“He’s 17 years old, he has 100 appearances and the way he’s just taking over games for moments, it’s just great to see that,” he added. “When I talk about the best, pure talent, he has the ability to play different ways in a football match.

“He can affect the game through just passing and being a creator, he can also run past people and eliminate players, and then finishing. To do that makes him a very unique proposition.”

Fellow TNT pundit and former footballer Ally McCoist said Yamal’s first-half performance was “as good a 45 minutes for an individual I’ve seen certainly in a long, long time.”

He added: “To watch him close at hand – he looked to be 30 or 40 yards in front of us – there were balls with the outside of his left foot, inside of his left foot. His goal, for example, was just majestic.

“There were just so many aspects to his game today. He was absolutely first class and to think a 17-year-old boy, I know he plays with freedom, but it’s like he’s been playing for 15, 20 years. His game knowledge is absolutely incredible for a 17-year-old.”

CNN
 — 

Maya Merhige eventually stopped counting her jellyfish stings, such was the frequency with which they were getting scorched against her skin.

At this point, Merhige was already several hours into her 27-mile swim across the Cook Strait in New Zealand and had slowly become immune to the small, burning sensations that covered her body. By the end, even her face – her nose, ears and lips – had been peppered with them.

“Constantly, like 25 times a minute – over and over,” is how often the 17-year-old Californian estimates that she was being stung. That equates roughly to once every third stroke – an aggressive form of exposure therapy for someone who claims to be terrified of jellyfish.

“Even when I was getting in the water, I was already like: ‘I’m so scared. I don’t want to see jellyfish,’” adds Merhige. “So the entire time I was just fighting myself mentally to kind of get over that fear.”

Confronting her greatest fears is something that Merhige has done time and again while swimming in some of the world’s most challenging and unforgiving waters.

Crossing the Cook Strait, which separates New Zealand’s North and South Islands, last month was another step towards her goal of becoming the youngest person to complete the Oceans Seven – a series of brutal open water swims around the globe.

Merhige has now successfully traversed the Cook Strait, the Moloka’i Channel in Hawaii, the Catalina Channel off the coast of Los Angeles, and the English Channel between England and France – all before graduating from high school.

Still on her to-do list are the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland, the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco, and the Tsugaru Strait in Japan.

“I’m hoping to be the youngest, which means that I have to do them by January of 2028,” Merhige says. “I am hoping to finish them all. I’m really excited for the ones I have left.”

In line with Marathon Swimmers Federation guidelines, only swimsuits – not wetsuits – can be used by those undertaking solo, unassisted marathon swims in open water.

Merhige is guided by a support boat and pauses to receive a feed from her crew every half an hour. The Cook Strait crossing, she says, was her hardest swim to date – which became clear the following day when she struggled to lift her arms above shoulder height.

The physical toll of taking stroke after stroke for more than half a day was compounded by choppy seas and strong currents, meaning Merhige swam 27 miles instead of 13.7 and was in the water for more than 14 hours instead of the planned seven.

But it was her mental resolve that was tested most of all, especially when the large wind turbines marking the end of the swim never appeared to be getting any closer. The best solution, Merhige thought, was to stop obsessing over the distance and just keep swimming.

It’s one of the reasons she prefers tackling her marathon swims at nighttime, unable to fret about how far she has to go or what sea creatures might be lurking in the ocean below.

“If I can’t see them, I really just tell myself: out of sight, out of mind,” says Merhige – referring, of course, to those much-feared jellyfish. “They’re not there if you can’t see them, so I just pretend it’s not happening, which does help me shut my mind off a little bit.”

Another perk to crossing the Cook Strait at night – which Merhige did for almost the entirety of the swim – was catching a glimpse of shooting stars and avoiding the heat of New Zealand’s punishing midday sun.

And no sun exposure means no risk of sunburn. That’s useful, Merhige points out, if you have your high school prom in a few days’ time and want to avoid arriving with a swimming cap tan across your forehead.

As obstacles go, a poorly-timed tan line is a relatively minor one when it comes to swimming in some of the world’s most dangerous waters.

When swimming the length of Lake Tahoe in 2022, Merhige struggled so much that she started to get hallucinations – “I thought that I had been kidnapped for part of it, thought I was swimming with human-sized stuffed animals,” she says – and had to negotiate sharks, seals, whales and dolphins during her Moloka’i Channel crossing the following year.

But for all the many challenges she encounters during her swims, Merhige still insists that she is happier in the water than anywhere else. It is, she explains, a “safe place” in which she sees herself as a visitor to an environment which isn’t, and will never be, entirely hers.

“It’s become this great relationship,” says Merhige. “I love being in the water so much, and I’m definitely loving it more and more; I have much more respect for the ocean and for the water than I did when I started swimming.

“I’ve done so much mental gymnastics in the water that I can adapt myself to deal with whatever situation occurs. Even if I’m scared, I know I can get through that fear. That’s what keeps me safe, and that’s what makes me feel safe.”

Merhige has now completed 10 marathon swims, which by definition measure at least 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) in length.

With nonprofit Swim Across America, she has raised more than $130,000 for pediatric cancer research, a cause motivated by some of her close family friends who have been affected by the disease.

The thought of those living with cancer is what motivates Merhige during some of her darkest, most grueling hours in the water.

“There are kids in the hospital, literally right now, who are going through chemotherapy and going through radiation, and if they can get through that, then I can keep swimming, and it’s nothing,” she says.

“I’m just telling myself that over and over and thinking: ‘This is bigger than me. There are people cheering me on, and there are people going through cancer that I’m doing this for’ … I know that this is making a bigger impact outside of just me, and that’s really important.”

Merhige, too, has faced her own recent health challenges. In March 2023, she ruptured a benign tumor on her pancreas during a skiing crash, causing intense pain and requiring surgery.

She was back in the water two weeks after the surgery, and then last year, two months after she was in and out of hospital for further treatment, Merhige completed her crossing of the English Channel.

More surgery is on the horizon this summer, meaning another Oceans Seven swim isn’t on the cards this year. That will have to wait until 2026, when Merhige hopes to complete two, maybe three, of the remaining swims during her first year at college.

She’s currently on a pre-med track and hopes to be at a school on the East Coast – the opposite side of the country to her hometown of Berkeley.

“I don’t think any of my top schools are remotely near water,” says Merhige, “but I’m going to find lakes, I’m going to find rivers. I’m going to make it work.”

The water, Merhige adds, is the place where she feels “the most myself,” and she has no intentions to wave goodbye to that part of her identity while at college. But one bonus of being on the East Coast? The jellyfish will be very, very far away.