J.K. Rowling Rips BBC Awarding Athlete Who Failed Gender Eligibility Test

Author J.K. Rowling expressed fury at the BBC on Tuesday after the network awarded an athlete who previously failed a gender-eligibility test.

Zambian football (soccer) player Barbra Banda received the BBC’s Women’s Footballer of The Year award through a public voting campaign “after nominees were selected by a panel of global football experts, including coaches, players, administrators and non-BBC journalists,” per GBN. The award did not come without a bit of controversy:

Zambian striker Barbra Banda was handed the gong on Tuesday – despite previously being withdrawn from the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) over gender eligibility concerns.

The award comes two years after Banda was omitted from Zambia’s Wafcon squad before she could undergo sex testing, following concerns about high testosterone levels.

As noted by the Associated Press, Banda was listed “female” at birth, but her failing the gender eligibility requirement resulted in similar questions raised during the Paris Olympics when Algerian boxer Imane Khelif competed in the women’s tournament despite having male chromosomes while having female body parts.

“Barbra Banda will be allowed to captain Zambia in its Women’s World Cup debut and continue a promising soccer career that was thrown in doubt when she was excluded from last year’s African championship in a sex eligibility case mishandled by authorities,” the AP wrote in June of last year.

Banda went on to compete in the Paris Olympics and “has become the second-leading scorer in the United States’ National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) this season, playing for the Orlando Pride,” per Fox News.

In response to the award going to Banda, J.K. Rowling said that the BBC spit in the face of women.

“Presumably the BBC decided this was more time efficient than going door to door to spit directly in women’s faces,” Rowling said on X.

Tracy Edwards, Britain’s former round-the-world sailor, also said Banda’s win represented the “destruction of women’s sports”.

Tish Reid, a 1992 British Olympic rower, also said that “obligatory sex screening would negate any rumours and controversy around individuals competing in the female sporting arena.”

Upon accepting the award, Band said, “I would like to thank the people who voted and everyone who has played a part in my life and my career – my family, my national team in Zambia and especially the Pride team. It is for everyone.”

Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.