haterade: can nwsl commissioner jessica berman meet the moment?

also, many links and memes

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I have left X completely but you can find me on Bluesky, if that’s your thing. Below, a rant and some links, including divorce drama, PWHL lesbians, and disco soccer.

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Soccer star Barbra Banda had an incredible month of November: she scored the lone—and therefore game-winning—goal in the Orlando Pride’s NWSL Championship victory over the Washington Spirit, was named Championship MVP, and then was named BBC’s Women’s Footballer of the Year just days later. This was all in addition to the great performance she gave at the Paris Olympics this summer as a member of the Zambian National Team, scoring two goals in their match against Morocco.

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But what should have been the highlight of Banda’s career was soured by bad faith attacks that questioned her womanhood, and a league that has done nothing to support her.

Shortly after Banda’s Women’s Footballer of the Year win was announced, J.K. Rowling and co. began declaring that Banda was “a man” who was cheating to win in women’s sports (you know, that same J.K. Rowling that the New York Times recently suggested trans people and their allies should be nicer to).

the natural destination of poor editorial judgment is the court of law

“The outcry was largely based on a 2022 controversy in which Banda was prevented from competing in the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), allegedly because her testosterone levels were too high based on a ‘sex verification’ test,” Them explained.

“But details on those allegations are unclear at best, as the AP reported in 2023: Banda’s agent Anton Maksimov has said she never took such a test at all, and WAFCON organizers the Council of African Football (CAF) reportedly do not have a maximum testosterone level in the first place. Sources familiar with the situation told the AP that mismanagement within the CAF and FIFA, the international governing body for soccer, were to blame for the controversy rather than Banda herself.”

(Putting those details aside, it is worth noting that sex testing regulations, in addition to being deemed human rights violations by most of the leading experts on the issue, disproportionately impact Black and brown women. In particular, African athletes like Banda (who is Zambian), runner Caster Semenya (who is South African), and track and field athletes Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi (who are Namibian) are more likely to be impacted by these restrictions, highlighting the racism and Eurocentricity of the regulations.)

NWSL Players’ Association director Meghann Burke issued a strong rebukedirectly to Rowling, saying: “You come for her, you come for all of us.” The PA also releaseda formal statement in full-throated support of Banda, as did theOrlando Pride.Megan Rapinoe defended Banda, and so did USWNT coach Emma Hayes.

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Silent in all of this has been the NWSL itself. NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman recently told The Athletic reporter Meg Linehan that the league was “going to continually live by our values and support everyone in our ecosystem” after Linehan asked her if she was prepared to support her players following the most recent election.

“We’re committed to ensuring that our players and our staff get all of their needs met, whether that’s health care, other protections around mental health — any support that anyone needs in our ecosystem,” Berman continued.

And yet, Berman and the NWSL put out no statement defending Banda’s right to play in their league, nor celebrating her accomplishments during the 2024 season. “When athletes can be targeted not just for losing, but also for winning — or simply existing — having a clear plan for how to handle attacks against a team, an individual or the sport itself is deeply necessary,” Linehan wrote at The Athletic.

Speaking of the NWSL Commissioner, Berman is failing to meet the moment in other ways, like talking around the discrimination and negligence lawsuit against the San Diego Wave and coach Jill Ellis. “Berman’s unwillingness to speak about the situation in San Diego stands in contrast to how she positioned herself upon joining the league,” Lesley Ryder wrote at Defector. “Berman became commissioner of the NWSL after a series of scandals led to her predecessor's resignation, and she was charged with cleaning up the league by forcefully investigating and punishing instances of misconduct.”

At this point, it’s worth asking whether Berman is the right person to lead a league like the NWSL. Prior to joining the NWSL, she spent 13 years working in the NHL. Whether her time working inside a men’s league known for having one of the most conservative cultures in pro sports has colored her ability to lead a diverse league like the NWSL, I can’t say. What I can say is that a different playbook is required, and I’m not sure that Berman possesses it.

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links and memes

• There have been a lot of new developments in the Ali Krieger/Ashlyn Harris divorce saga, despite the couple splitting over a year ago.