Sports
Football: ‘I Had To Strip Naked To Prove I’m A Woman’
Genoveva Anonma
was used to the insults. For years, she had shrugged off the suspicions, ignored the accusations.
But what she was not prepared for was the degrading ordeal that followed her starring performance for Equatorial Guinea in the 2008 African Women’s Championship.
Scorer of the winning goal on home soil as her country became the first team other than Nigeria to win the tournament, Anonma should have been savouring the realisation of a dream. Instead she was plunged into a personal nightmare.
As her energetic and powerful performances prompted rival teams to accuse her of being a man, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) chose the crudest of methods to establish Anonma’s gender.
“They asked me to take all my clothes off in front of officials from CAF and the Equatorial Guinea team,” she recalls.
“I was really upset, my morale was low and I was crying. It was totally humiliating, but over time I have got over it.”
Overcoming adversity was nothing new to this most resilient of individuals.
Growing up in Equatorial Guinea – where the 2015 men’s Africa Cup of Nations is holding off on her desire to become a footballer made her an outcast at school, and indeed at home.
“When I was five years old in my village the girls didn’t accept me because I just wanted to play football, so I always used to play with the boys,” says Anonma.
“My dad was living in another city with another woman and my mum didn’t want me to have anything to do with football. She wanted me to study for a Masters, become a teacher, or help children.
“I had some serious problems with her. She told me she didn’t want to see me again.
“Eventually, I went to live with my uncle. He took me to the city so I could carry on studying and playing football.”
Anonma was signed by her local team in the capital city, Malabo, when she was 15 in 2002. After a year in South Africa with Mamelodi Sundowns, she joined FC Jena in the German Bundesliga, where she was the team’s top scorer for two seasons in a row.
However, after Equatorial Guinea’s run to the final of the 2010 African Championship they booked their place at the 2011 Women’s World Cup, and she became embroiled in an all-too-familiar scandal.
Winners Nigeria, along with South Africa and Ghana, accused Guinea of having three men in their team: sisters Salimata and Bilguisa Simpore, as well as the team’s captain, Anonma.
“You only need to have physical contact with them on the pitch to know this [that they are men],” said Ghana defender Diana Amkomah at the time.
As the story made headlines around the world, Anonma faced up to the media to refute the allegations.
“These accusations come because I am fast and strong, but I know that I am definitely a woman,” she said at the time.
Unfulfilled wish
As the row rumbled on into the build-up to the World Cup, Equatorial Guinea sought to defuse the controversy by dropping the Simpore sisters from their squad, although it was never stated that their omission related to gender. And the allegations were never proven.
Anonma, meanwhile, kept her place and scored Equatorial Guinea’s only two goals at the tournament.
To this day, Anonma’s biggest frustration remains that she has never been permitted to undergo medical gender testing in the expectation of silencing her doubters once and for all.
Gender testing in sport
Gender testing is a highly controversial area of scientific debate. There is no perfect method to categorically determine whether someone is a man, a woman or, as is perfectly possible, something in between.
Over the years, sport has tried chromosome testing, individual gene testing and hair testing but all of these techniques carry flaws.
The most high profile case in recent years was that of Caster Semenya. She won the women’s 800m gold for South Africa at the World Athletics Championships in 2009 but was then subjected to an investigation into her gender. She was cleared to compete again in 2010, although the results of her tests were never made public.
“I was hoping they would call me to tell me they were taking me to hospital to do tests, but they never did,” she says.
“They did nothing to me. It was just down to me alone to defend myself, to state that I am not a man, I am a woman.”
A woman good enough to be named African Women’s Footballer of the Year after her goals inspired Equatorial Guinea to their second African Championship in 2012.
And a woman good enough to line up in Germany for Turbine Potsdam, the six-time Bundesliga champions and two-time winners of the European Champions League.
“I think Germany is the best league in Europe,” she says. “There are lots of internationals and big-game players.
“But on a personal level, it’s not easy when you don’t speak German very well. You can’t have many friends or talk to people well.”
Future ambitions
If Anonma hints at homesickness, she is not yet ready to return to Equatorial Guinea, where she is feted as a hero whenever she walks the streets.
Instead, she’s weighing up offers to play in France or Sweden, two other established hubs for women’s football.
Despite the tribulations of her turbulent career, Anonma remains a player at the summit of her powers.
Sheringham writes for BBC Sport
Sam Sheringham
Sports
La Liga: Atletico Bring Real Back To Earth

Atletico Madrid scored five goals against city rivals Real for the first time in nearly 75 years when they fought back from behind in a pulsating derby.
It was only the fourth time Atletico had scored at least five in a Madrid derby, the last occasion being a 6-3 victory in November 1950.
Real lost for the first time this season, having won all six of their opening La Liga matches as well as their first Champions League tie, a 2-1 victory over Marseille.
The last time Real conceded as many in La Liga was a 5-1 defeat by Barcelona in October 2018.
Robin le Normand’s header had given Diego Simeone’s side an early lead that was overturned by superb goals from Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler.
But Alexander Sorloth levelled the game at 2-2 in stoppage time at the end of the first half.
And the hosts took charge after the break when Julian Alvarez, who had hit the post in the first half, converted from the penalty spot before curling home a brilliant free-kick.
Atletico went into their shell, but held their cross-city rivals at bay until Antoine Griezmann grabbed their fifth goal deep into stoppage time.
The result maintained an impressive record against Real in La Liga for Simeone’s side, who have not lost in their past six league encounters with Los Blancos.
PSG Regain Top Position In France (7)
Paris St-Germain returned to the top of Ligue 1 with a comfortable victory over Auxerre at the weekend.
Illia Zabarnyi scored his first goal for the club since his summer move from Bournemouth when he volleyed in at the back post from Vitihna’s cross at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
The home side doubled their lead when Lucas Beraldo headed home from Senny Mayulu’s cross.
PSG moved above Marseille, who beat them on Monday, as they made it five wins from their opening six league matches.
Auxerre had their chances, with a fierce shot from Kevin Danois striking the woodwork and Sekou Mara having a header cleared off the line.
There were further opportunities for Luis Enrique’s side but Achraf Hakimi’s dink was ruled out for offside and Bradley Barcola sent a header over the bar.
Auxerre are 13th in the table with four defeats from six matches.
PSG travel to Barcelona on Wednesday in their second Champions League group stage match.
Before the PSG match, Marseille scored two late goals to move level on points with hosts Strasbourg and go top of Ligue 1 on goal difference.
Strasbourg looked on track to move four points clear at the top until the 78th minute as Abdoul Ouattara’s goal had them ahead.
But former Arsenal and Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang grabbed the equaliser, and Amir Murillo completed the turnaround as the clock ticked into added time.
Aubameyang was first to the rebound following his own shot to level the score after goalkeeper Mike Penders spilled the initial shot.
Penders, on loan from Chelsea, seemed to have done better in stoppage time when he tipped substitute Robinio Vaz’s header onto the crossbar, but the rebound landed with Murillo.
Marseille were top with five teams all on 12 points, including Strasbourg who were in fifth place.
Kane Sets Elite Scoring Record With Bayern (5)
Harry Kane scored twice in Bayern Munich’s win over Werder Bremen last Friday to become the fastest player this century to reach 100 goals for a club playing in one of Europe’s top five leagues.
The England captain won and converted a penalty on the stroke of half-time, before firing home from close range in the 65th minute to reach the century mark in just 104 games.
The previous record of 105 games was set by Cristiano Ronaldo while playing for Real Madrid in 2011, and matched by Manchester City striker Erling Haaland last year.
Former Liverpool winger Luis Diaz had opened the scoring when he deflected in a Jonathan Tah flick from a corner, while Konrad Laimer slipped home a late fourth as leaders Bayern preserved their unbeaten start to the season.
Kane broke two other records in his side’s 4-1 victory against Hoffenheim last weekend, during which he scored a hat-trick.
He reached 70 Bundesliga goals in just his 67th game in the competition, faster than anyone else in the league’s history.
Previously, the 32-year-old broke the record for the most goals scored in 50 Bundesliga games (54 goals), and the fewest number of games needed to reach 50 goals in the competition (43 matches).
On Friday, Kane also became the first player in Bundesliga history to convert their first 18 penalties, as well as score 18 consecutive spot-kicks.
Kane was the first player in Bundesliga history to finish top scorer in both his first two seasons, and the only player to score 25 or more goals in their first two campaigns in the competition.
He has started this campaign with 15 in eight games in all competitions – including two hat-tricks in five Bundesliga games, with Vincent Kompany’s side top of the league table with a 100% record.
Kane is the highest scoring Englishman in Champions League history (42 goals), and scored against all 20 teams he has faced in the Bundesliga.
Only Miroslav Klose has played against more sides, while scoring against all of them (28).
Kane joined Bayern from Tottenham Hotspur in a £100m transfer in 2023, having scored 280 goals in 435 games in all competitions for the Premier League club.
He has two years remaining on the four-year contract he signed with the Munich outfit, although he has recently been linked with former club Spurs and Manchester United.
But when asked on Friday if he was thinking of a Premier League return, Kane said: “No, not at the moment. I’m really happy here. I have two years left on my contract.
“I’m enjoying every moment. That is not in my thought process. I’m enjoying it with the team, with the coach, and hopefully we continue to be successful.”
Sports
Forest Still Looking For Winning Formula

Ange Postecoglou’s difficult start to life as Nottingham Forest head coach continued as Omar Alderete’s first-half goal gave Sunderland victory at the City Ground.
The former Spurs boss, appointed on 9 September, has now lost three and drawn two of his first five games in charge, with Saturday’s loss coming in his first home game with Forest.
But the hosts will feel aggrieved by the manner of Sunderland’s winner, with the visitors awarded a free-kick when Nicolas Dominguez was penalised for simulation when he clashed with Trai Hume while attempting to clear.
Grant Xhaka sent the ball in from the set-piece and Alderete was there to direct it into the net.
Dan Ndoye came close to equalising just before the break with a deflected effort before Chris Wood headed over.
Elliot Anderson curled a shot just over the bar as Forest pushed for the leveller in the second half, while Robin Roefs, who has been excellent for Sunderland so far this season – saved well from Omari Hutchinson, Wood and a long-range Anderson effort.
But despite the pressure, Forest could not find a goal as promoted Sunderland’s third win of the season moved them up to third in the table.
Forest, meanwhile, are 16th with just one win from their first six Premier League games.
Sports
Man Utd Lose, Again

Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes had a second-half penalty saved as Ruben Amorim’s side slipped to a Premier League defeat at Brentford at the weekend.
United were trying to fight their way back after Igor Thiago capitalised on some shambolic United defending inside the first 20 minutes to give the home side a two-goal cushion.
Benjamin Sesko pulled one back with his first goal since making a £74m summer move from RB Leipzig.
Fernandes was given the chance to level when Bees captain Nathan Collins dragged former Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo back inside the area.
After a delay of almost five minutes, which included a video assistant referee red card check against Collins and Brentford making two substitutions, Fernandes’ low effort was turned away by Caoimhin Kelleher.
Brentford wrapped it up deep in stoppage time when Mathias Jensen drove a high shot past United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir from the edge of the area.
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