The project was promoted by Hugo Marlo, a singer, footballer and trans activist known for having been part of the programs ‘Got Talent’ and ‘La Voz’.
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The inclusion of trans women in women’s sport generates a great controversy due to the supposed advantages offered by a “biologically male body” but what happens when it is the other way around?
Trans boys face a titanic struggle to break barriers and this is the case of Fénix, which has become the first federated trans male team in Europe and has just debuted in the Catalan League.
It is nothing new for the members of this team to play football, but the way of doing it is different: without discrimination. A year ago, Fénix FC was born with a goal that has become a reality, as it has become the first trans federated team in Europe. 30 footballers playing in the Catalan men’s league thanks to Hugo Marlo’s idea.
Change was born from his suffering on the field. Through social networks, he created a safe place, a team where he could feel comfortable inside and outside the game. Some of his players were expelled from their teams and others had never dared to compete.
They started playing in January 2023 and have been sponsored by the Penya Recreativa de Sant Feliu de Llobregat (Barcelona).
Last season they played in the 7-a-side Football League, but this season they have already made the leap to 11-a-side football, in the Catalan fourth division. Since this 2024/2025 season, the first federated team made up of trans players competes in group 22 of the Catalan Fourth Category.
They debuted last September 21 and conceded 19 goals, but the result was the least of their worries after having achieved the dream of becoming the first transgender team within a football category in Spain.
In fact, in three days played, the team has conceded 74 goals and has not managed to score any, but they are not discouraged.
Their victory goes beyond the game. As a shield, a Phoenix, a symbol of what they have achieved from that courage that has made them rise from the ashes.
“I was a boy who played on the girls’ team, but without the changed card they still wouldn’t let me play with boys,” Martínez told Reuters, who said that other players, coaches and spectators insulted and threatened him for being trans.
This led him to create his own team, putting out an online call for other trans men who wanted to play football in a safe and inclusive environment. It took him three years to get Fenix FC up and running.
The team captain, Luke Ibáñez, joined Fenix FC after being hesitant to play with non-trans men: “Fénix is a team of trans boys created entirely by trans boys, but I think it’s more than that: a family, a safe place where you can be free and express yourself as you want and as you really feel.”
The Catalan Football Federation says its men’s leagues have been mixed for two seasons now and that players of any gender can participate.
As we already know, Spain recently passed an innovative bill on trans rights to make it easier for them to change their legal gender identity.
The bill allows trans people in Spain over the age of 16 to update their gender identity and name on official documents with a simple request, and confirmed three months later by the applicant for the change to be valid.
However, discrimination against trans people continues in the country, with 302 cases of discrimination or violence occurring against LGBTQI+ people in Catalonia in 2023, 25% of which were against transgender people, according to the Catalan Observatory against LGBTphobia
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