Mick Hartley

Vote now for your BBC Women's Footballer of the Year:

Voting for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2024 is open.

Fans from across the world can vote for their favourite from the five-player shortlist of Barbra Banda, Aitana Bonmati, Naomi Girma, Caroline Graham Hansen, Sophia Smith.

The award was first given out in 2015, making this its 10th year.

How exciting!

One problem though:

Barbra Banda, the Zambian footballer who previously failed a ‘gender eligibility test’ at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, is among the nominees for BBC Female Footballer of the Year 2024.

In 2022, Banda was barred from competing in Wafcon, after failing a ‘gender’… pic.twitter.com/j4b0ebYkWW

— Women's Rights Network – WRN (@WomensRightsNet) October 15, 2024

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Full text:

Barbra Banda, the Zambian footballer who previously failed a ‘gender eligibility test’ at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, is among the nominees for BBC Female Footballer of the Year 2024.

In 2022, Banda was barred from competing in Wafcon, after failing a ‘gender’ verification test the day before the start of tournament.

@BBCSport reported that Banda had been taking medication to ‘reduce her levels of testosterone, which are naturally overly high.’

If testosterone levels in a female athlete are ‘overly high’, there are three possible explanations:

~ the female is male;
~ the female is taking performance enhancing drugs;
~ the female is seriously ill (and would be very unlikely to be performing in elite sport).

Being barred from the most prestigious tournament in Africa has been no barrier to a glittering career in the women’s game for Banda. Although a contract with Real Madrid was withdrawn after Banda’s ban, the player went on to represent Zambia at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and at the Tokyo and Paris Olympic Games. FIFA and the International Olympic Committee have no requirement for female athletes to prove their sex is actually female. Banda, a former professional in women’s boxing, currently plays for the USA-based team Orlando Pride.

Yet again, women’s sport is being brought into disrepute (and women footballers put at risk of serious injury) by weak governing bodies that refuse to stand up for fairness and safety for females. If female footballers fail ‘gender eligibility’ this raises inevitable questions over their sex.

@FIFAcom and @iocmedia could resolve the matter at once by introducing sex verification tests to confirm if all the players on the pitch are indeed female. At the moment, we just don’t know.