Firstly, I’d like to thank the people of South Wales East for re-electing me as your regional Member of the Senedd.

Women’s sports are too often overshadowed in viewership and coverage, and seldom are their successes celebrated with the same gusto and pomp of their male counterparts.

On May 31, 2021, the Football Association of Wales announced the restructure of women’s football clubs in tiers 1 and 2. Under the guise of increasing competition within woman’s football, several teams across Wales have been relegated from the upper tier despite their successes on the pitch over the last season.

One example is Abergavenny Women’s FC who have been in the Welsh top-flight for the best part of the last decade and despite finishing fourth this season, they have been inexplicably relegated at the stroke of an administrator’s pen.

There has been a worrying lack of transparency and the integrity of the women’s game in Wales is now at risk. It also sends the wrong message to the next generation of Welsh football stars that their competitive success, hard work and dedication does not matter.

The FAW receives a part of its funding from Sport Wales, which in turn is funded by the Welsh Government. As such, I have called on the Deputy Minister for Sport to intervene on the matter due to the unjust and unfair restructure.

There is significant cross-party support against the FAW’s decision and Labour Ministers need to send a strong message that any process has to be fair and transparent and that this has fallen far short of the standards required from a national governing body.

It is understandable that sport governing bodies do sometimes need to revamp their tiered systems, the FAW have only applied this the Welsh Premier Women’s League. The question that remains unanswered is why the FAW have only seen it fit to implement these changes within women’s football, while the men’s leagues remain primarily based on competitive success.

I will continue working with my colleagues from all political parties to fight for a fair outcome in this restructuring, which has harmed rather than strengthened women’s football in Wales. I hope the FAW will revise their decision and look to come up with a solution in this transitional year that is fair and ensures that everybody is on board with the restructuring of the women’s game. Improvement is much needed in order to be competitive within the UK, and on a world stage, but it has to be done fairly.