Who is BBC Women's Footballer of the Year Banda?

Barbra Banda has been voted the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year for 2024.

Orlando Pride and Zambia striker Banda was one of five contenders shortlisted for the accolade for their achievements over the last 12 months, chosen by a panel of experts including coaches, players, administrators and journalists.

This panel did not include any BBC personnel, and the winner was voted for by the public.

But who is Banda? BBC Sport takes a look at the 24-year-old's career and her story so far.

What has she achieved at club level?

Banda became the first Zambian woman to play football in Europe when she signed for Spanish side Logrono in October 2018, going on to score 16 goals in 28 matches for the club.

Little more than a year later, in early 2020, she joined Chinese Super League outfit Shanghai Shengli where she won the Golden Boot in her first season with twice the number of goals as the second-ranked player.

In March of this year, Orlando Pride paid Shanghai $740,000 (£581,000) to sign her - the second most expensive women's signing in history, behind her Zambia team-mate Racheal Kundananji.

She ended her first season in Orlando with 13 goals in the regular season and four in the play-offs - a National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) post-season record - as Pride won their first title.

She was nominated for this year's Women's Ballon d'Or and last week was named in the NWSL's Best XI for the season.

What has she achieved as an international footballer?

Banda made her senior international debut for Zambia in 2016.

At the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, she became the first woman to score two hat-tricks in the same Olympic football tournament.

Three years later in Paris, the Zambia captain scored four goals, including a first-half hat-trick against Australia, to become Africa's all-time top scorer - male or female - in Olympic football history with 10 goals.

At the 2023 Women's World Cup, she scored in Zambia's first ever win at the tournament. Her strike also marked the 1,000th goal in the Women's World Cup.

Off the pitch, she launched the Barbra Banda Foundation in Zambia in 2021, which aims to alleviate poverty, promote equality through sport, and help raise awareness for issues affecting girls. She has spoken openly about the challenges of growing up as a young girl in Zambia, telling BBC Sport it "has never been easy" and it was "difficult" to get into sport.

In 10 years of the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year award, Banda is one of only three Africans to have been nominated, and is the second to win it after Nigerian Asisat Oshoala in 2015.

Barbra Banda has 63 international caps for Zambia

Why did she not play at Wafcon 2022?

In 2022, despite being named in Zambia's original squad for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon), Banda was not selected for the tournament on gender eligibility grounds. The details of that decision have never been made fully clear.

The president of the Zambian FA said at the time that she had undergone a gender verification test and had not met the criteria for the competition.

As a result, Zambia pulled her out of the tournament.

It was reported in 2022 that she had elevated levels of testosterone in that test - a hormone that can increase muscle mass and strength.

BBC Africa reported in 2023 that in the run-up to Wafcon 2022, Banda took medication to reduce her testosterone levels but those levels had not come down enough by the time the championship started.

Two sources have since told BBC Sport that Banda did not take a gender eligibility test in the lead-up to the tournament - despite the Zambian FA president's public statements saying so at the time.

Since that tournament Banda has continued both her club and international career, competing at the World Cup in 2023 and Paris 2024 Olympics as well as playing for Orlando Pride in the NWSL.

What are Fifa's rules?

Fifa's gender eligibility regulations were last updated in 2011 and stated: "No mandatory or routine gender testing verification examinations will take place at Fifa competitions. It lies with each participating member association to prior to the nomination of its national team ensure the correct gender of all players."

A "gender verification procedure" could be requested but must meet formal requirements and be supported by reasons and evidence.

In 2022, Fifa announced it was reviewing its gender eligibility regulations "in consultation with expert stakeholders".

BBC Sport has contacted Fifa to ask for an update on the review, but has not received a response.

What are Caf's rules?

At the time, the rules of African football's governing body, the Confederation of African Football (Caf), stipulated that all female players must undergo a pre-tournament gender verification test.

Zambia have qualified for the next edition of Wafcon, which is set to take place in Morocco in July 2025.

BBC Sport has contacted Caf regarding its current rules and how they may impact next year's tournament but has not received a response.

What does Banda say about what happened?

"I do not like to dwell on the past, but I have just to focus on myself," Banda told BBC World Service Sport when she was presented with her award.

"Whatever has happened in the past, it is the past, I am focusing on the new generation and where I am right now and just to focus on my career and the charity that I do back home in Zambia with a lot of people in the community. So that is my main focus right now.

"If I kept on thinking about what was going on in the past, mentally then I would not be where I am right now. But I feel like my mind is that strong and I know where I am coming from."