BBC Gives Women's Soccer Player Of The Year Award To Player Who Failed Sex Eligibility Test

Published|Updated

The BBC has awarded its annual Women's Footballer of The Year award to Barbra Banda after the Zambian player received the most votes from readers. Banda being handed the award is controversial given that the 24-year-old withdrew from the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations after failing to meet sex eligibility requirements.

According to the African Soccer Federation (CAF), qualifying female players cannot "show any perceived deviation in secondary sex characteristics and are therefore presumed to be of female gender."

The federation communications director, Sydney Mungala, explained the team was notified of Banda's possible ineligibility due to the heightened testosterone levels during the 2022 tournament. Banda was reportedly offered medication to lower testosterone levels but refused to take them.

While Banda was deemed ineligible to compete in the 2022 Women's Africa Cup, the International Olympic Committee, to no surprise, did not take any issue with the situation. Banda scored two hat tricks during the 2020 Olympics and competed in this year's Olympics in Paris as well.

The IOC took no issue with Imane Khelif, a boxer with evidence of having male XY chromosomes, winning a gold medal in the women's division in Paris. The Olympic committee allowing a soccer player to compete with failed gender tests attached to their name is the least bit shocking.

Banda joined the Orlando Pride of the NWSL this season and became the second-leading scorer in the U.S.-based league with 13 goals in 22 matches.

The BBC awarding Banda women's soccer player of the year honors has caused quite an uproar on social media, and ‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling has made her opinion on the matter crystal clear.

Rowling has been among the leaders of well-known figures trying to keep women's spaces, and women's sports, exclusive to biological females. The author possessing and voicing common sense has made her an enemy of the left, which takes no issue with biological men infiltrating women's sports.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.