Albania suspends Brazilian volleyball player after gender complaints

VIDEO SHOWS: BRAZILIAN VOLLEYBALL PLAYER NAYARA FERREIRA RIDING HER BIKE / INTERVIEW WITH FERREIRA / ARCHIVE OF FERREIRA TRAINING WITH TEAM/ INTERVIEW WITH COACH AND CAPTAIN OF TEAM/ INTERVIEW WITH ANTI DISCRIMINATION COMMISSIONER / DRONE SHOTS OF TIRANA SHOTLIST ONLY, COMPLETE SCRIPT TO FOLLOW  SHOWS: TIRANA, ALBANIA (NOVEMBER 3, 2025) (REUTERS-Access all) 1. VARIOUS OF BRAZILIAN VOLLEYBALL PLAYER NAYAR FERREIRA GETTING HER BIKE 2. FERREIRA RIDING BIKE 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRAZILIAN VOLLEYBALL PLAYER PLAYING FOR DINAMO TEAM IN ALBANIA, NAYARA FERREIRA, SAYING:     “I mean, this is the first time in history in Albania, and they did this for me, why? This is my question. What's the problem? In this situation, they didn't give me any legal basis, any document. They didn't ask me for anything. They didn't ask, for example, federation from Brazil, like something, you know, nothing. Just come and said, Nayara, you need to make a gender test. That's it. If you don't make it, you are suspended from the league, and the club will lose 10 points because of this.” 4. FERREIRA RIDING BIKE 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRAZILIAN VOLLEYBALL PLAYER PLAYING FOR DINAMO TEAM IN ALBANIA, NAYARA FERREIRA, SAYING:     “Now (people) they look at me different. They know this is a woman, like, she's in between this case, you know, like she's a man or woman, we don't know. And, you know, I don't know, people may look at me like, hmm she is woman or man. So, I'm in this situation right now. It's not something I want to be in.” 6. FERREIRA SITTING ON BENCH 7. VARIOUS OF FERREIRA CHECKING HER PHONE 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRAZILIAN VOLLEYBALL PLAYER PLAYING FOR DINAMO TEAM IN ALBANIA, NAYARA FERREIRA, SAYING: “Because I feel scared. I feel like lost. I feel like, you know, depression. I mean, very sad with this situation. More sick, without eat, without drink water, without sleep. I mean, this is a very bad situation for someone. I mean, I'm not from here, you know. So of course I will feel like bad, and now how people look at me in this kind of stuff.” 9. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS FROM DINAMO FEMALE VOLLEYBALL DURING TRAINING 10. COACH OF DINAMO TEAM ORLANDO KOJA DURING TRAINING 11. (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) DINAMO TEAM COACH, ORLANDO KOJA, SAYING:     “These things are not good for the sport, obviously. We are people of the court, of the gym, and all this gossip and psychological pressure don’t let us work calmly. They don’t give us the chance to improve our performance and focus more on the court — on technique and tactics. It’s not easy, but we’re trying to respond.” 12. VARIOUS OF CAPTAIN OF THE DINAMO CLUB ELENA BEGO 13. (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) DINAMO CAPTAIN, ELENA BEGO, SAYING: “Of course we know that Nayara is a woman — we’ve changed together. There were speculations that she had her own room to change in, that she showered alone, that she lived separately, but we, as her teammates, completely deny those claims. We share every moment with Nayara, and none of that is true. She is, without doubt, a woman. But I believe this situation has come about because of the rivalry Dinamo has created this year as a very strong team, and I think that has influenced this decision.” 14. VARIOUS OF TRAINING 15. VARIOUS OF ALBANIA’S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMISSIONER, ROBERT GAJDA (RIGHT) SPEAKING WITH HIS AIDE. 16.  GAJDA CHECKING DOCUMENTS 17. (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) ALBANIA’S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMISSIONER, ROBERT GAJDA, SAYING:     “Taking such immediate measures (to ban her), based on a completely unfounded situation and moreover with negative consequences against an individual, is unacceptable for a society that claims to be not only democratic but also respectful of the rule of law and of human rights.” TIRANA, ALBANIA (FILE-AUGUST 19, 2025) (ORLANDO KOJA-Access all) 18. VARIOUS OF FERREIRA DURING TRAINING TIRANA, ALBANIA (NOVEMBER 3, 2025) (REUTERS-Access all) 19. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRAZILIAN VOLLEYBALL PLAYER PLAYING FOR DINAMO TEAM IN ALBANIA, NAYARA FERREIRA, SAYING:     “This is, like I say, this is voluntary. I don't need to do this. I just do for help them (Dinamo team). Of course, I don't need to prove to anyone I'm a woman because I am." DURRES, ALBANIA (FILE-AUGUST 26, 2025) (ORLANDO KOJA -Access all) 20. VARIOUS OF FERREIRA DURING TRADING TIRANA, ALBANIA (NOVEMBER 3, 2025) (REUTERS-Access all) 21. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRAZILIAN VOLLEYBALL PLAYER PLAYING FOR DINAMO TEAM IN ALBANIA, NAYARA FERREIRA, SAYING:     “No, I don't feel safe anymore. I don't feel safe anymore. Every time I go to the street, I feel like maybe something happen to me after this. I don't know, we never know. At the same time, we have good people, we have bad people. So, we never know what happen after. This is a big problem for me right now, you know? So this is what I have." TIRANA, ALBANIA (FILE-OCTOBER 4, 2025) (REUTERS-Access all) 22. (MUTE) VARIOUS OF DRONE SHOTS OF TIRANA GRAPHIC (REUTERS – Access all) (MUTE) 23. REUTERS SLATE READING (English): "The Albanian Volleyball Federation did not respond to repeated requests for comment." 24. REUTERS SLATE READING (English): "The International Volleyball Federation said it was aware of the case and had been in touch with Ferreira and the Albanian federation." 25. REUTERS SLATE READING (English): " It said each national federation was responsible for applying its own eligibility rules for domestic competitions and did not give an opinion on the case." STORY: The Albanian Volleyball Federation has suspended a female player from one of the country's top clubs after rival teams raised doubts about her gender without providing evidence, according to interviews with the player, her club and documents seen by Reuters.     Brazilian Nayara Ferreira, 32, plays for Dinamo, currently second in the Albanian women’s volleyball league, but has missed several games since October after the federation said she must take a gender test at a specific laboratory to prove she was a woman.     Speaking in an interview in her apartment on the outskirts of Tirana, Ferreira said no one had ever questioned her gender before. She said she had been instructed to do a gender test without being given a legal basis and that she had been warned she would be suspended from the league if she refused.      The ultimatum cam after complaints from two rival clubs, Vllaznia and Pogradeci, alleging that Ferreira might be biologically male or was using hormone therapy to enhance her performance.     Neither the federation nor the clubs have publicly provided evidence to back up these claims, which Ferreira and her club say are baseless. An official at Pogradeci declined to comment. Vllaznia could not be reached for comment.     The Albanian Volleyball Federation did not respond to repeated requests for comment.     In a letter, seen by Reuters, sent to the club on October 6, it said it planned to carry out tests "to verify the player’s natural physical performance and determine her gender". On October 13, the federation said she should appear at a laboratory for a test two days later. Ferreira refused to appear and was suspended. She said that she has voluntarily done a test at another clinic to privately prove her gender to her club, the results of which are expected in the coming days.     The International Volleyball Federation, which oversees all forms of the game worldwide, said it was aware of the case and had been in touch with Ferreira and the Albanian federation.     It said each national federation was responsible for applying its own eligibility rules for domestic competitions and did not give an opinion on the case.      Ferreira, who previously played in Saudi Arabia and has competed across Europe, has been in Albania for about two months. She says she fears for her safety since the allegations emerged in local media.      Her teammates and coach fear that her absence will jeopardise their chances o…

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