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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Suzanne Wrack

How Barbra Banda got caught up in a swirl of misinformation and double standards

Barbra Banda celebrates scoring against Kansas City Current in a playoff match in November 2024
Barbra Banda celebrates scoring against Kansas City in a playoff match last year. The Zambian helped Orlando Pride win the NWSL title. Photograph: Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA Today Sports

The “hateful language” directed at Orlando Pride’s Barbra Banda during their 2-0 defeat of Gotham FC last Sunday, understood to be transphobic and racist in nature, is part of an alarming trend, with several non-white athletes targeted for not fitting westernised standards of femininity.

The language directed at Banda from the stands was “directly addressed” by stadium security, said the hosts, Gotham FC, in a statement, and the situation was “monitored for the remainder of the match”.

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