Striker who missed AFCON over gender row nominated for BBC Women's Footballer of the Year

Barbra Banda has been nominated for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year award (Image: Getty)

Zambia striker Barbra Banda has been nominated for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year despite being at the centre of a gender eligibility row in 2022. The 24-year-old is the second-most expensive female footballer in history and is the top-scoring African player at the Olympic Games.

Banda has been included on a shortlist alongside Naomi Girma, Caroline Graham Hansen, Sophia Smith and Aitana Bonmati. The latter is the current Ballon d’Or champion.

Having excelled since her £581,000 switch to Orlando Pride last year, scoring 12 goals in her first 12 NSWL matches, it was clearly felt that Banda was deserving of the prize. However, her nomination has been criticised by some parties due to reports of her failing a gender eligibility test in 2022.

Banda was removed from Zambia’s Africa Cup of Nations squad a day before the tournament was due to start after it emerged that her testosterone levels were judged to have been unusually high.

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“All players had to undergo gender verification, a CAF [Confederation of African Football] requirement, and unfortunately she did not meet the criteria set by CAF,” Andrew Kamanga, the Zambia Football Association president (FAZ), told the BBC at the time.

The CAF denied that it had taken a decision over Banda’s eligibility. It is claimed that FAZ ruled her out due to the governing body’s guidelines.

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Banda was allowed to compete at the Olympics and scored four goals during the Paris Games. Her excellent performances included a hat-trick against Australia. She is the top-scoring African player in the history of the competition with 10 strikes.

Former Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes is among Banda’s admirers. The 47-year-old described the forward as “the most in-form striker in world football."

Barbra Banda is the second-most expensive footballer in women's football history (Image: Getty) SUBSCRIBE Invalid email

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Orlando Pride head coach Seb Hines recently said of Banda: "With Barbra in particular, we knew what we were getting - we were getting a goalscorer.

"We got a player who has an eye for a goal and puts herself in really good positions for goals. She finds a way, and it's brilliant to see."

Banda recently opened up on her AFCON ordeal in an interview with the BBC, describing it as “very difficult”. She has since described her nomination for the award, which is dished out on November 26 as a “big privilege and honour to be nominated alongside some very amazing talents in the beautiful game.”