Zimpapers Logo

Melody Gwenyambira in LUSAKA, Zambia
Zambia 2-1 Zimbabwe. ZIMBABWE’S Mighty Warriors have made sensational claims that Zambia fielded a man in a women’s 2016 Olympic qualifier, second round, first leg tie at Nkoloma Stadium here yesterday.

The player at the centre of controversy is Barbara Banda, who was clearly was traumatised by the accusations.

Kick-off was delayed by 30-minutes as the Zimbabwe delegation, led by Cecelia Gambe, protested the inclusion of Banda in the team.

Zambia assistant coach Kape Kaili feels Zimbabwe were trying to cause unnecessary panic.

Goals from Banda in the 12th minute and Hellen Mubanga gave Zambia the win while Rudo Neshamba scored a vital away goal for Zimbabwe.

“The whole drama before the match affected the performance,” Kape said.

“I’m not impressed by the way they played. We conceded a goal at home something we shouldn’t have done. We will work from the midfield to the front line.” According to Fifa statutes, a player accused of being of the opposite sex cannot be physically examined on the day of the match.

A procedure to allow that has to be followed.

The Mighty Warriors wrote a letter, raising their concerns with Gambe, the Mighty Warriors Head of Delegation, writing to Fifa and handing the letter to the match commissioner.

“We’re suspecting that one player, by the name of Barbara, is a boy. We won’t play until or unless we’re given access to his/her passport page with details and photo,” Gambe wrote.

After the letter was written, the match commissioner raised the issue with the Zambians and asked for permission to take pictures of Barbara for her reports.

Football Association of Zambia Vice-President, Boniface Mwamelo, criticised Zimbabwe for making the accusations.

“It’s unfortunate that our visitors had to raise that issue five minutes before the game started. They could have done that earlier.

“Barbara is a girl and has always been a girl,” he said.

Barbara confirmed that she is indeed a girl.

Despite the defeat, Mighty Warriors coach Rosemary Mugadza heaped praises on her team.

“They did very well considering that they only started training on Tuesday and left on Thursday,” said Mugadza.

“We managed to pick ourselves up. If we had taken our chances it would have been better considering that we had six entries in the box and Zambia had four.

“Our fitness levels were not up to scratch and we’re going back home to prepare well for the return leg.”