NWSL, union and 2 teams denounce fans' reported 'hateful language' against Barbra Banda

Sport

NWSL, union and 2 teams denounce fans' reported 'hateful language' against Barbra Banda

2025-03-25 09:38 Last Updated At：09:41

The National Women's Soccer League, its players union and the Orlando Pride and Gotham FC have denounced reports of “hateful language” directed at Pride forward Barbra Banda.

The statements Monday came in response to a report about a fan behavior at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, where Gotham hosted the Pride on Sunday. A Gotham season ticket holder posted in an online forum that Banda was subjected to racist and transphobic comments.

“We are united in our message: This behavior is unacceptable and has no place in our leagues and in our stadiums,” the NWSL statement said.

The Pride defended Banda, who is in her second season with the club and also played for her native Zambia in two Olympics and in the 2023 Women's World Cup.

Banda was subject to transphobic online abuse last year after she was named the BBC’s Women’s Footballer of the Year, stemming from a mishandled sex eligibility case that kept Banda out of a the African championship in 2022. FIFA said the next year she was eligible to participate in the World Cup.

Banda was assigned female at birth and does not identify as transgender.

“Barbra is an outstanding role model and an influential advocate for soccer both in Africa and here in the United States. We look forward to continuing to celebrate and support her on and off the pitch,” Orlando's statement said.

Gotham said security responded to the incident once it was reported. The team and the NWSL are investigating and will take action under the league's fan code of conduct, which prohibits fans from using "threatening, abusive, or discriminatory words, signs, symbols, or actions based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, cultural identity, nationality, citizenship status, age, appearance, disability, and/or religion.”

Gotham also said it had reached out to apologize to the Pride.

“There is no place for harassment or abuse in our sport, and we support efforts to address this incident swiftly and responsibly,” the NWSL Players Association said in a statement. “Soccer is built on principles of fairness, inclusion, and respect for human dignity — any form of hateful conduct undermines these values and has no place in our fandom.”

The NWSLPA went on to call Banda a “generational talent” who deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.

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Former US Rep. Mia Love honored in Utah after brain cancer death

2025-04-08 00:17 Last Updated At：00:21

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Family and friends of former U.S. Rep. Mia Love gathered Monday in Salt Lake City to honor her life and legacy after she died of brain cancer last month at age 49.

Love, a daughter of Haitian immigrants, was the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress.

The former lawmaker from Utah had undergone treatment for an aggressive brain tumor called glioblastoma and received immunotherapy as part of a clinical trial. She died March 23 at her home in Saratoga Springs, Utah, weeks after her daughter announced she was no longer responding to treatment.

Hundreds of mourners entered the service from a walkway lined with American flags, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Institute of Religion on the University of Utah campus. Long tables displayed framed family photos and bouquets of red and white flowers.

On Sunday evening, state lawmakers and members of the public visited the Utah Capitol to pay their respects at Love's flag-covered coffin behind ropes in the building's rotunda.

Love, born Ludmya Bourdeau, represented Utah on Capitol Hill from 2015 to 2019. She and her husband, Jason, had three children, Alessa, Abigale and Peyton.

She was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2022 and said her doctors estimated she had only 10 to 15 months to live, which she surpassed. With aggressive treatments, Love lived for about three years after receiving her diagnosis.

Love entered politics in 2003 after winning a seat on the city council in Saratoga Springs, 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City. She was elected as the city’s mayor in 2009, becoming the first Black woman to serve as a mayor in Utah.

In 2012, after giving a rousing speech at the Republican National Convention, she narrowly lost a bid for the U.S. House against the Democratic incumbent. She ran again two years later and defeated a first-time candidate by about 7,500 votes.

Love did not emphasize her race during her campaigns, but she acknowledged the significance of her election after her 2014 victory. She said her win defied naysayers who suggested a Black, Republican, Mormon woman could not win a congressional seat in overwhelmingly white Utah.

She was briefly considered a rising star in the GOP, but her power within the party fizzled out as President Donald Trump took hold. Love kept her distance from Trump and called him out in 2018 for vulgar comments he made about immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and some African nations. Later that year, she lost in the midterm elections as Democrats surged.