Barbra Banda

[Jezzz]

Does anyone have any information about the actual sex of this person?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12282149/amp/Zambia-striker-told-play-Womens-World-Cup-despite-failing-gender-eligibility-test.html

Bye bye Zambia! Concentrate on developing your female players now.

I don’t know if this link will work, but an interesting article essentially about womens football coming up against male dominated football administrations. If it does not, I will c&p key sections especially around the problems Spanish players have had.

https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/the-world-cup-and-the-frustrating-inspiring-state-of-womens-soccer

@Needmoresleep
Thanks for the link.
The Spanish women's team have had so much trauma to cope with- it's difficult to decide if I want the current team to succeed bearing in mind the many players who have taken a stand and been left behind.

We went to see the last world cup in France, and even then the Spanish team, though young, were really skilled and with another four years experience were only going to improve. Given the strength of their club set up they really should be red hot favourites.

FIFA's behaviour over the TV rights suggests that they don't care about developing the women's game but have suddenly cottoned on to the scope to raise money. They seem to have no understanding of why having men play will be a viewer turn off. Luckily it is a minor country this time. It is a reasonable prediction that if FIFA don't sort out their rules male-born trans players will represent one of the seeded teams next time around.

Many thanks for the link Needmoresleep.

I am similarly torn, @imed - Spain are a wonderfully talented side but there is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women, to quote Albright. I think because there is so much competition for places, some players are happy to get rid of some of their rivals!

@Needmoresleep
FIFA's behaviour over the TV rights suggests that they don't care about developing the women's game but have suddenly cottoned on to the scope to raise money. They seem to have no understanding of why having men play will be a viewer turn off. Luckily it is a minor country this time. It is a reasonable prediction that if FIFA don't sort out their rules male-born trans players will represent one of the seeded teams next time around.

Spot on regarding Fifa's motivation for taking an interest in the development of women's football, but let's remember that since having males in a female football team is legal under their rules, Zambia are very unlikely to be the only side which may be fielding males.

https://news.sky.com/story/gianni-infantino-fifa-president-leaves-womens-world-cup-after-less-than-a-week-to-go-to-tahiti-12929115

Also well done England.....two wins so guaranteed progression to the knock out stages.

Don't think England are through yet! If we lose to China they'll go through on head to head so the other match will be crucial.
Oh Banda has scored from a controversial penalty☹️

I've just seen that the penalty Banda scored will go down in history as this is the 1000th goal scored in the women's world cup.

Oh ffs

😡😠

Bumping this thread as Banda is joining the Orlando Pride for a 'record fee'. Orlando is part of the NWSL, the equivalent to our WSL.

https://twitter.com/soccerdonna/status/1765091082168336666

There's a reason no European team would touch Banda. Will be interesting to see if any American players speak out.

Unfortunately, that's not true - some other players who refused gender verification tests (or their national federation refused on their behalf) are at European clubs. Going back to the NWSL, I think Banda is the second this season.
I can see this turning into an arms race - once a team gets away with it, other teams will want to get the same advantage and gradually more and more males will be in women's team, with knock-on effects for participation by girls and women.

So sick of these cheats

I'm sick of the authorities allowing it and the clubs and these male players taking advantage.

Absolutely right about the "arms race" implications

Unless there are clear and enforceable guidelines and enforcement this will be a huge problem. All over Europe clubs are recruiting young teenagers from Africa and elsewhere for their academies. Only one in 100 at best will make it. The rest will be expected to pack up and go home to an uncertain future.

Or......realise they were a woman all along.

I think you are outlining a different problem, which is more of an issue for men's football.
Scouts are targetting areas of Africa where these male DSDs are known to occur - many are heritable conditions - and looking for likely candidates for various sports, not just football. I suspect that unless the child/teenager is not interested in any sport or the parents are not interested in making money on their child's behalf, pretty much all the males recruited will be successful because the male athletic performance advantage guarantees it.

I cant see why a male teenager from a poor country, who has been dropped by a European football academy and who then, rather than go home, decides they identify as female in order to get signed by a women's team, is a men's football problem.

At the moment rules are not clear and chromosome wise these boys will have the same chromosome profile as some with DSDs, the sort of DSD where something has gone wrong with the external appearance of genitals but where testes exist internally.

Given the recent story of Spanish soldiers and police identifying as female to get better benefits, it would be absolutely logical for young sportsmen to do the same in order to get professional footballing job. Transwomen are allowed in University women's teams and elsewhere and US and European teams are signing men with DSDs.

Rules need to be clarified and adhered to. Otherwise women will lose out.

I thought your previous post was saying that male teenagers dropped from women's academies in Europe would be a problem.
I didn't see/register your last sentence, sorry.

We are posting at cross purposes.

Incredible, eh?

Who knew!

Banda is playing with the Zambia women's team at the Olympics. Commentators currently gushing.

So fucking sick of these cheats

At least Zambia are being pasted.

Aha... so that's one of the athletes that journalists have been advised not to speculate about... I wonder whether there are others..

This article.. while it has many flaws... places the blame clearly at the door of FIFA.. in this case.... footballs insistance on remaining silent on this topic is truly shameful.

'FIFA, and as a result CAF, don’t have rules setting any limits for testosterone levels for female players, as other sports do. They don’t broach the subject of sex variations in female athletes, which other sports have. Neither soccer bodies give a clear guide on how players should have their sex “verified” but they both put the onus on teams to do it.
And so, team doctors are interpreting the regulations “the way they want,”
https://apnews.com/article/zambia-banda-womens-world-cup-79520a0f06bf1c91a18fbeacfdd2fbec