The Zambia player crowned BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year despite being withdrawn from a tournament for failing to meet sex eligibility rules has been named in the FifPro Women’s World 11.

Barbra Banda was chosen for the union’s team of the year following a poll of more than 7,000 of her peers, with the 24-year-old selected alongside England stars Mary Earps, Lucy Bronze, Lauren James, Keira Walsh and Alex Greenwood.

The inclusion of Banda, whose victory in the BBC vote saw the corporation accused by JK Rowling of “spitting in women’s faces”, denied a place in the World 11 to the likes of Lionesses striker Alessia Russo and, potentially, her team-mates Ella Toone, Millie Bright and Jess Carter.

Reigning BBC Sports Personality of the Year Earps, nominated in the goalkeeper category, was the only England player whose selection could not be affected by the inclusion of Banda, who was withdrawn from her country’s squad for the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations before the striker could undergo sex testing.

That was after a 26-strong FifPro shortlist was split into three keepers, eight defenders, seven midfielders and eight forwards. The three players with the most votes in the latter three positions were automatically selected for the team, along with the most popular keeper. The final position was taken by the defender, midfielder or striker with the next highest number of votes, with the shortlisting of Banda therefore possibly depriving an England player a place in the team.

Banda, who scored a hat-trick at the Paris Olympics and has become the second-highest scorer in the United States’ National Women’s Soccer League this season, was named the victor of the BBC award from a five-player shortlist last month that included Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí, winner of the female Ballon d’Or.

Rowling responded to Telegraph Sport’s story on Banda’s honour by posting on X: “Presumably the BBC decided this was more time efficient than going door to door to spit directly in women’s faces.”

Such criticism drew a furious response from Emma Hayes, the manager of the Olympic gold medal-winning US women’s team and ex-Chelsea boss.

“Barbra Banda is an amazing football player,” Hayes said last week. “It’s ridiculous that she has to endure questions like this to be quite honest with you. She has our support.”

Banda received the most votes from BBC website readers after being shortlisted by a panel of what the corporation said were “experts involved in football” including coaches, players and non-BBC journalists.

The honouring of the player came after a gender-eligibility controversy that was reported by the BBC at the time. Andrew Kamanga, president of the Zambian federation, told the corporation’s Africa service: “All players had to undergo gender verification, a CAF [Confederation of African Football] requirement, and unfortunately she did not meet the criteria set by CAF.” Telegraph Sport established last year that Banda had never undergone a test and was deselected for the competition as a pre-emptive measure.

Zambia said after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where Banda scored six goals, that they were aware the player exceeded CAF’s maximum testosterone levels and that a course of hormone suppression had been offered. But Banda, along with two other members of the starting XI – Racheal Kundananji and Racheal Nacula, both of whom also starred at the Paris Games – were said by the country’s FA to have declined medication amid concerns about potential side-effects.

Banda’s presence at the Olympics was described by Lucy Zelic, an Australian TV presenter, as the “elephant in the room”. Although the player’s testosterone was high enough to be ruled out of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, the more lenient rules imposed by Fifa and the International Olympic Committee – where responsibility for sex testing is deferred to national federations – allowed Banda to be in Paris and at last year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Before turning to football Banda competed as a professional boxer, winning all five bouts. A move to Real Madrid had been mooted in 2022 but collapsed in the wake of the Wafcon controversy. Instead Banda joined Orlando Pride in March, contributing to the club’s maiden NWSL title last month.

The BBC honour threatened to detonate fierce controversy and Tracy Edwards, Britain’s former round-the-world sailor, condemned it as the “destruction of women’s sports”. Tish Reid, who rowed for GB at the 1992 Olympics, said the Banda case was “another example where obligatory sex screening would negate any rumours and controversy around individuals competing in the female sporting arena”.

Olympian Sharron Davies, a staunch advocate for women’s safety in sport, wrote on X: “It’s so sad the BBC are actively encouraging the destruction & loss of opportunities for female athletes in sport. I’m so disheartened & disappointed they are actively cheering this unfairness on.”

Reem Alsalem, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, has called strongly for such screening to be made mandatory so that women’s sport can be protected for biological females. “There are circumstances in which sex screenings are legitimate and proportional in order to ensure fairness and safety in sports,” she said in a report last month to the General Assembly in New York. “Current technology enables a reliable sex screening procedure through a simple cheek swab with non-invasiveness, confidentiality and dignity.”

The BBC said in a statement: “As well as playing in the past two Olympic Games and the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup, Barbra Banda plays for the Zambian national women’s team and in the USA for Orlando Pride making her fully eligible for the award which celebrates talent in women’s football. The five-player shortlist was decided by an expert panel made up of current and former professionals, coaches and journalists based on performances in the last twelve months, with the winner voted for by the public.”