BBC women’s footballer of the year Barbra Banda has her gender questioned by all the usual suspects

Barbra Banda has been voted BBC women’s footballer of the year but, despite being a cis woman, she is being transvestigated.

The Orlando Pride and Zambia striker was one of five players shortlisted by a panel of experts for the award and it was announced on Tuesday (26 November) that she had garnered the most votes from readers of the BBC Sport website.

Banda became the first Zambian woman to play football in Europe when she signed for Spanish side Logrono in 2018, having made her international debut two years earlier. She captained the national at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and scored four goals at this summer’s Games in Paris – including a first-half hat-trick against Australia.

During the regular football season, she scored 13 goals for Pride plus four more in the play-offs, including the winner in the championship final on Saturday (23 November) as Orlando won the title for the first time.

She has also been praised for her work off the pitch, including launching the Barbra Banda Foundation in 2021, which aims to alleviate poverty, promote equality and help raise awareness of issues affecting girls and women.

“This goes to the fans who support my career, my teammates who make everything possible and my coaches who give me proper guidance,” she said. “I am surprised to have this award [and] would like to thank the people who voted and everyone who has played a part in my life and my career: my family, my national team and especially the Pride team. It is for everyone.”

However, some people have begun questioning her gender over an eligibility issue more than two years ago.

She was left out of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations team in 2022 after allegedly been found to have high testosterone levels. Although no information on the test was made public, the Zambian Football Association claimed she had failed a gender-verification test.

Although this does not mean she’s transgender, UK newspapers The Times and Daily Telegraph seemingly reported on Banda’s award through the lens of a “gender controversy.”

So-called gender-critical individuals then accused her of being trans, calling her “male”. Former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies labelled the award “bl**dy ridiculous” and round-the-world yachtswoman Tracy Edwards referred to it as “the destruction of women’s sports”, the Daily Mail reported.

Absolute Football podcaster Paul Wheeler branded the reporting “horrific,” adding: “She was not banned under recognised [world governing body] FIFA rules. Also … the headline doesn’t make it clear: Barbra Banda is a cis woman.”

An investigation last year reportedly found there was no suggestion that Banda’s testosterone levels were “anything but naturally occurring”. 

The controversy echoed the abuse faced by Algerian boxer Imane Khelif on her way to winning a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Controversy over an alleged failure to meet eligibility criteria for a 2023 World Championship prompted anti-trans pundits to label Khelif a trans woman, despite her also being cisgender.

The International Olympic Committee criticised the abuse and confirmed that the welterweight had complied with all the competition’s regulations.