Former US women's soccer player Megan Rapinoe has defended Barbra Banda, who was named the BBC's female soccer player of the year, despite controversy over her eligibility to play in Africa.
Banda has withdrawn from the Zambia squad for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco in 2022 because she did not meet gender eligibility requirements, the BBC previously reported. Banda was cleared to participate in the Paris Olympics and played this season with the Orlando Pride, where she was the second-leading scorer in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
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Megan Rapinoe watches the women's gold medal match between France and the United States at the Paris Olympics on August 11, 2024. (Tnani Badreddine/DeFodi Image, Getty Images)
Banda was still chosen to receive the award despite reportedly failing to qualify as transgender participation in women's sports has become a hot-button issue in the U.S. and abroad.
Rapinoe spoke out in a post on her now-expired Instagram Story.
“You have excited, entertained and inspired us and the world all year long,” Rapinoe wrote via Goal.com on Friday. “As with all of your successes, this is a given. You stand far higher than the little people who are trying to tear you down.”
The 2024 season was Banda's first with the Pride, scoring 13 goals in 22 games.
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Zambia's Barbra Banda celebrates after scoring a goal against Costa Rica during the FIFA Women's World Cup at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand on July 31, 2023. (Hannah Peters – FIFA/FIFA, Getty Images)
Orlando went 18-6-2 and won the NWSL Championship for the first time in league history. Banda scored the only goal of the match.
Rapinoe has been a strong advocate for LGBTQ rights and transgender inclusion in women's sports.
She said she would support a transgender female player on the U.S. women's national team in July 2023.
“That's right,” she told Time magazine last year. “'You're standing in the shoes of a 'real' woman” is still an extremely transphobic part of the discussion. I think trans women are real women. What you're automatically saying inside is, in a sense, communicating.'' Don't you yourself already believe that these people are women?
Megan Rapinoe of the United States team against Australia at the Tokyo Olympics on July 27, 2021 in Kashima, Japan. (Hector Vivas – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
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“So they're taking away other positions. I don't feel that way.”
FOX News' Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
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