Lucy Zelic questions why two Zambia players who previously failed gender eligibility tests could compete in Paris

Football commentator Lucy Zelic has questioned why two players who previously failed gender eligibility tests were able to play against the Matildas.

Lucy Zelic (right) has questioned why Zambian forward Barbra Banda (left) was allowed to compete at the Olympics.

Football commentator Lucy Zelic has questioned the Zambian women’s football team’s inclusion of players who had previously been banned for failing gender eligibility tests.

Zambian forward Barbra Banda scored a hat-trick and striker Racheal Kundananji two goals in Zambia’s 6-5 loss against the Matildas.

Both players were banned from playing in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in 2022 after “failing gender eligibility tests”. They were allowed to play in the World Cup and the Olympics after football’s governing body allowed teams to conduct their own gender eligibility tests.

Zelic, who is commentating on the Olympics for Nine radio, took to X, formerly Twitter, to “discuss the elephant in the room” about the eligibility of Banda and Kundananji to play in the Olympics.

Barbra Banda scored a hat-trick against Australia.

Racheal Kundananji scored two goals against Australia.

“We are entitled to ask questions. We are entitled to know why the failed gender verification tests conducted in 2022 were completely ignored by FIFA in 2023 and continue to be ignored in 2024,” she wrote.

“That the International Olympics Committee do not have ‘as strict’ rules when it comes to gender testing is also a slight on the credibility of the organisation and the sports being contested.”

Zelic has been an outspoken critic of transgender athletes being allowed to compete in women’s sport and has argued that it is “alarming” for those concerns to be silenced.

Banda, who is her country’s Olympic top goal scorer, was identified as female at birth and no reason has ever been given for her exclusion from the game.

Lucy Zelic has questioned why the pair were allowed to compete in Paris.

Zelic wrote: “In the end, it doesn’t matter that Australia won 6-5 or that Zambia fails to progress at the Olympics - what matters is the integrity of the game.”

Psychologist Dr Dianna Kenny said the issue could be a repeat of the controversy surrounding South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya who was eventually found to be intersex with naturally occurring high testosterone levels.

“We don’t know why the Zambian players were not allowed to play and why they were later allowed to play,” Dr Kenny said.

“They may have been treated to reduce the amount of testosterone they have occurring naturally in their bodies.

“It is a very difficult question because on the one hand there is the issue of the players’ privacy and on the other we need transparency in sport,” she said.