The BBC’s Barbra Banda Controversy
On the 26th November, the BBC announced the tenth winner of the Women's Footballer of the Year award, the Zambian international Barbra Banda, having been voted as winner by fans from across the world.
Banda plays as a striker for the American outfit, Orlando Pride, having moved to the United States earlier this year. Furthermore, she has over 50 goals for the Zambian national team - which she captains - at the age of only 24, making her the all time top scorer in the history of her nation.
However, her victory was not without heavy controversy and, in the wake of her success, Banda has become subject to a cloud of misinformation.
In the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, both in 2018 and 2022, Banda was not selected to represent her national team, having been found to have naturally elevated levels of testosterone. She was initially said to have taken - and failed - a gender eligibility test, however, the BBC has since reported that Banda did not take a test in 2022. Instead, she was allegedly taking hormone suppressing medication, which still failed to sufficiently reduce her testosterone levels. Regardless, the nature of the test Banda supposedly took remained unclear.
Ultimately, there is no concrete evidence of Banda having DSD, differences in sexual development, and it remains unclear as to whether or not Banda took hormone suppressants or not.
This is not the first time this year that women’s sport has led to controversy over DSD, after the Algerian athlete beat Italian fighter Angela Carini in women’s boxing, at the Paris Olympics last August.
Numerous influential figures have spoken out against Banda’s winning of her award, including political commentator Alex Armstrong, who labelled it a “PR stunt” on GB news.
But perhaps even more famously, J.K Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, released a statement on the digital platform X, condemning the BBC for their treatment of women. She claimed that the BBC had decided to “spit directly” in the faces of, not only the women who missed out on the award, but young women who idolise professional footballers.
However, many have instead chosen to support Banda, including the manager of the United States’ women’s national team and former Chelsea manager, Emma Hayes, who has hit out at criticism which she labelled as “ridiculous”.
All in all, Banda’s success in claiming her prestigious award has caused extraordinary controversy, not only among the football community, but in the wider political spectrum of sport.
