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Barbara Banda has been excluded from the Women's CAN. CAF mentioned medical reasons without giving any details. The star of the Zambian team would present a high level of testosterone, reason for which she did not play the CAN in Morocco. The 22-year-old striker is currently taking part in the Women's Cosafa Cup. She even scored twice in her first game.
Barbara Banda has been a big hit for Zambia in the COSAFA Cup. The Cooper Queens captain scored twice against Namibia (2-0) in her first game of the competition. She was even named woman of the match despite not finishing the game due to an injury in the 78th minute. Thanks to Banda, Zambia is at the top of Group B before they meet Lesotho, who defeated Mauritius 3-0.
Banda excluded from the Women's AFCON
With Barbara Banda, Zambia could at least qualify for the final of the Women's AFCON. But CAF decided otherwise. The authority excluded the player, the day of the kick-off. The reason? Medical problems. And CAF stopped there without giving any details. The real reason is that Banda would have a very high testosterone level. The information was given by the president of the Zambian Football Association (FAZ), Andrew Kamanga. "All players had to undergo a gender check, a requirement of CAF, and unfortunately, she did not meet the criteria set by CAF."
She did, however, play in the Olympics with Zambia where she scored two hat-tricks. The 22-year-old striker even became the first female footballer to achieve such a performance in the history of the tournament. What to raise questions. The CAF wanted to wash its hands of it afterwards. The authority even maintained that its medical commission was not aware of the case "Barbara Banda". What had put the president of the FAZ in a black anger. "It was a grossly unfair statement by CAF because all federations participating in this tournament (AFCON) were subject to the rules that were set by CAF. In this regard, we were obliged to deal with medical requirements in the context of the eligibility of players. That CAF turns around and says it was not aware of this is unfortunate," he said.
Despite an impressive run at the Olympics and a fairly successful season in China, Barbara Banda's name did not appear on the list of 30 nominees for the African player of the year award. Amazing!
