Since 2013, German civil status law has provided the option of choosing "no indication" for the gender entry. Since the end of 2018, people in Germany have been able to choose the option "diverse", the so-called "third option", in addition to the gender entries "male", "female" and "no indication" when making an entry in the civil status register (Act amending the information to be entered in the register of births of December 18, 2018, Federal Law Gazette | page 2635).

The decision of the Federal Constitutional Court (decision of 10.10.2017, ref.: 1 BvR 2019/16) not only affects civil status law, but also has consequences for many other areas. For example, several court decisions against Deutsche Bahn AG and RyanAir, among others, have already ruled that a service offer aimed exclusively at men and women is not sufficient and can trigger claims for damages.

Within the framework of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), the amendment primarily concerns protection against discrimination in working life. This results in far-reaching changes for sport, which is called upon to dismantle barriers and discrimination. It also has the task of enabling all people to participate in sport and thus also in competition. This participation must also be guaranteed for trans*, inter* and non-binary (tin*) people.

With the entry into force of the Act on Self-Determination with regard to Gender Registration (SBGG, "Self-Determination Act") on November 1, 2024, the previously applicable "Transsexuals Act" (TSG) was replaced. It enables all people living in Germany to have their gender entry adapted to their actual gender identity in an uncomplicated manner at the registry office. In media reports, the SBGG is often presented as if it were a complete novelty.

In fact, at the end of the SBGG procedure, the result is the same as under the 40-year-old TSG: a new first name and gender entry. The SBGG merely simplifies the procedure.

The DFB has been working intensively on the topic of gender diversity since 2018 and has identified various fields of action in soccer:

• The number of inquiries regarding the issuing of match authorizations in the event of a change in marital status is continuously increasing.
• DFB.NET only allows a binary, i.e. male or female, gender specification. Furthermore, the gender salutation in forms and the member registration must be adapted.
• There is a need for further training on gender diversity in clubs and associations.
• The toilet and admission situation (body searches) in the stadium were also named as critical by tin* people in exchanges of experience.

If you experience discrimination by the opposing team or other people, please report the discrimination to the contact point.For more information on discrimination and the contact point, read here at "Frequently asked questions" continue.

Trans: From the start of a transition, the applicant with tin* playing rights can decide for themselves whether they want to play in the men's or women's team. At the end of the transition, the right to play in the original team ends.

Non-binary, inter, agender: Persons without a male or female gender entry can freely choose which team they would like to play in with the tin* playing rights.There is no time limit for this.

With the change of the DFB for the 2022/2023 season, there is no longer a limit for persons with tin* playing rights. Any number of people with tin* playing rights may play in a team at the same time.

There are no transfer deadlines for the tin* playing right; the transfer is possible after the tin* playing right has been granted.

Registration regulations § 3, No. 2: "During this period, the person shall, upon application, be eligible to play for a team of the gender in which he/she has not previously played and in which he/she is striving to be aligned, without having to comply with waiting or transfer periods."

The number of permitted changes is not yet regulated. In principle, it is possible for a person to change more than once. A person's gender identity can change over the course of their life. Especially when you consider that this regulation also applies to juniors, the possibility of changing again must remain possible.

No, the original eligibility to play expires after one month when a new eligibility to play is issued.

Registration regulations § 3, no. 2: "The existing eligibility to play expires one month after the medical completion of the gender reassignment, unless the reassigned gender corresponds to the gender that the person has already specified."

As of December 2025: No, but there is currently no option to select "diverse". DFB-IT is working on this: In 2026, the DFBnet and thus the options for specifying gender are to be revised.

Yes, the name can be deleted from fussball.de at the request of the person concerned. This setting can be made in DFBnet. If the "Publication" checkbox is set to "No", the name will no longer be provided to public print and online media on all past and future match reports. On fussball.de, this will make all names unrecognizable. It will then no longer be possible to re-display past match reports.

Trans* is the term used to describe people who do not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth. Trans* is a collective term for all self-designations, with the * serving as a placeholder for all other designations after the "trans". The spelling trans* is used adjectivally and is therefore written in lower case and as a single word in conjunction with trans* man or trans* woman. Not all people who see themselves as trans* undergo gender reassignment surgery.

As a rule, newborns are assigned a gender based on their apparent genitalia. It is not always possible to determine the sex, and in some cases it can be determined later in life that the assignment at birth was incorrect. Characteristics can develop that can be assigned to both the male and female sex. In medical terms, this is referred to as "variants of gender development". The people concerned are referred to as inter*.

Diverse is one of four possible legal gender entries in Germany. It is often referred to as the "third option" because it is the third positive civil status introduced by the federal government at the end of 2018. Until then, there were only two positive (male/female) and one negative ("no entry") legal civil status. A change of civil status is possible via the Self-Determination Act with regard to gender entry (SBGG).

Non-binary gender identity describes the identity of people who do not identify exclusively as either male or female. They see themselves as being outside the traditional, binary gender order. Non-binary people can experience themselves as a mixture of both genders, as neither, or as something completely different. Terms such as genderqueer, agender (genderless), genderfluid (fluid gender identity) and bi-gender (two genders) are examples of non-binary identities. Gender identity is based on a person's inner feelings and not on biological characteristics.

Transition or gender reassignment is the process of adapting one's own experience to one's gender identity. Transition varies from person to person and can take several years. A transition may involve taking medication and/or undergoing gender reassignment surgery - but it does not have to. First names and gender entry can be adjusted during a transition, but they do not have to be.