JK Rowling attacks Barbra Banda, the women's Football star awarded by the BBC!

Zambian Football star Barbra Banda, after enjoying a successful season with the Orlando Pride, has been named the BBC's Women's Footballer of the Year. However, this recognition quickly attracted online attacks, including anti-transgender and anti-intersex attacks.

Banda, who joined the Orlando Pride as a striker this year, was announced as Women's Footballer of the Year on Tuesday, after being nominated by a vast panel of global football experts and winning the more votes in an online poll. This award comes days after Banda and the Pride won their first NWSL championship, with Banda scoring the deciding goal, after which she was named championship MVP. Additionally, she shone at the Paris Olympics this summer, scoring two goals against Morocco to help the Zambian national team qualify.

“I'm shocked and surprised to have this award on my side,” Banda told BBC Sport this week. “I would like to thank those who voted and all the people who have contributed to my life and career – my family, my national team in Zambia and especially the Pride team. It’s for everyone.” Banda also added that “growing up in Zambia was never easy, especially as a young girl,” and that it took time for her mother to support her sporting dreams. “It wasn't easy, but I think hard work and determination helped me a lot,” she told the BBC.

However, soon after the BBC's announcement, anti-trans ideologues in the UK seized on the story to spread the false idea that Banda is a “man” who cheats in women's sport – claiming that the price by the BBC was a provocation directed against cis women. (It's important to point out that the BBC didn't even nominate Banda itself, and her victory was the result of a public vote.) The reactions mostly echoed a 2022 controversy where Banda was prevented from competing at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), allegedly due to testosterone levels deemed too high according to a “gender verification” test. However, details about these allegations are unclear, because as the AP reported in 2023, Banda's agent, Anton Maksimov, said she had never taken such a test, and organizers of the WAFCON, the African Football Council (CAF), do not appear to have a maximum testosterone limit.

However, many people have spoken out massively on social media to insist that Banda's Female Footballer of the Year award illustrates everything that is wrong with the sport, by degendering and denigrating her. Sharron Davies, a former swimmer and staunch opponent of trans rights, spent hours on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday lashing out at Banda and the BBC, spreading false information about Banda in the process. “Among all the fabulous sportswomen [sic] of the world, the BBC deliberately chose a man to be the best female footballer of the year!” she wrote, adding that the reward was “pure and simple provocation.”

No review of this type would be complete without JK Rowling, who speculated that the BBC “decided it was more effective than punching women directly in the face.” Rowling, of course, was probably too busy accusing Algerian boxer Imane Khelif of abuse at that point, based on (equally unverified) claims that she had elevated testosterone levels.

Advocates for women in sports have warned that these attacks call into question the integrity of female athletes and endanger women, particularly those of color, whether cis or trans. Accusations of high testosterone levels or “masculinity” are often directed at black women, like Banda and Olympic icon Caster Semenya, who is waging a long-running legal fight against “gender verification” rules. to protect the right of intersex athletes to compete.