The BBC has named a player who was withdrawn from a 2022 tournament after failing to meet gender eligibility rules over high testosterone as Women’s Footballer of the Year. The Telegraph has more.
Barbra Banda, who scored a hat-trick at the Paris Olympics and has become the second highest scorer in the United States’ National Women’s Soccer League this season, won the award from a five-player shortlist including Spain’s Aitana Bonmati, winner of the female Ballon d’Or. Banda received the most votes from BBC readers after being shortlisted by a panel of what the BBC said were “experts involved in football” including coaches, players and non-BBC journalists.
The controversy was reported by the BBC at the time, with Andrew Kamanga, President of the Zambian federation, telling the corporation’s Africa service: “All players had to undergo gender verification, a CAF [Confederation of African Football] requirement, and unfortunately she did not meet the criteria set by CAF.” Telegraph Sport established last year that Banda had never undergone a test and was de-selected for the competition as a pre-emptive measure.
Zambia said after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where Banda scored six goals, that they were aware the player’s testosterone levels exceeded CAF’s maximum levels and that a course of hormone suppression had been offered. But Banda, along with two other members of the starting XI – Racheal Kundananji and Racheal Nacula, both of whom also starred at the Paris Games – were said by the country’s FA to have declined medication amid concerns over potential side-effects.
The BBC report on Banda’s award does not mention any of this background, including only the 24-year-old’s immediate reaction that “my aim is always to score because I love scoring – it has not been easy but I think hard work and consistency have really helped”.
The choice from the shortlist was made by a vote among “BBC readers”. Which tells you a lot about who still reads the BBC these days.
Worth reading in full.
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