Layla Banaras Wins Top Honour at Muslim Sports Awards
Layla Banaras has won the Female Elite Sports Athlete of the Year award at the Muslim Sports Awards 2026, adding another honour to a year in which the 20-year-old midfielder has become a regular for Pakistan.
Banaras plays for Lewes in England and represents Pakistan at senior international level. The award recognises her rise in the English game and her decision to play for the country of her father’s birth.
The latest recognition follows her win at the Asian Football Awards in London in October, where she took the Women’s Young Player award. The awards honour British Asians in football. Her Pakistan teammate Mariam Mahmood also received the Women’s Player award at the same event.
Layla Banaras: a year of firsts
Born in Birmingham, Banaras began her football career with Birmingham City at the age of eight. At 16, she became the first woman of South Asian heritage to represent the club during its professional era. She later signed with Lewes in 2025.
Banaras made her senior international debut for Pakistan in 2025 and also featured in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers in Jakarta. On April 9, 2026, she scored twice in Pakistan’s 8-0 victory over Turks and Caicos at the FIFA Series in Abidjan.
Her path to the national team took patience. She was first approached about playing for Pakistan when she was 13 or 14, but she felt too young at the time. When the Asian Cup qualifiers came around earlier this year, she decided to commit, applied for a national identity card for overseas Pakistanis, and joined the squad. She assisted multiple goals during the qualifying campaign.
From Birmingham to Pakistan
Beyond football, Banaras has also worked to support Muslim athletes. At the age of 15, she developed a Ramadan Nutrition Guide and Meal Planner with club nutritionist Isobel Cotham and the Professional Footballers’ Association.
The resources were created to help Muslim athletes manage their training and nutrition while fasting during Ramadan. She had found very little guidance for players training through the holy month, so she helped write it herself.
She has spoken about wanting to inspire other young Muslim girls to take up football. As a teenager she had no South Asian or Muslim friends who played the game, and she now uses her platform to show that girls from her background belong in it.
That visibility matters for Pakistan’s women’s game, which is still building its base. Pakistan’s women’s team reached the semi-finals of the SAFF Championship, and the women’s cricket team has shown what backing can produce by winning the Emerging Nations Trophy. Young players are also finding a path through age-group football, as the under-17 side’s World Cup campaign showed.
Banaras is part of a wider group of young Pakistani athletes making their mark abroad. Squash star Mahnoor Ali, 14, has won four Asian Junior Super Series gold medals, though her prize money remains unpaid. For Banaras, the next step is to turn a year of awards into a settled place in Pakistan’s team.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Layla Banaras?
Layla Banaras is a 20-year-old Pakistani midfielder who plays for Lewes in England and represents Pakistan at senior international level. She was born in Birmingham and began her career with Birmingham City at the age of eight.
What award has she won?
She has won the Female Elite Sports Athlete of the Year award at the Muslim Sports Awards 2026. In October she also won the Women’s Young Player award at the Asian Football Awards in London.
When did she debut for Pakistan?
Banaras made her senior international debut for Pakistan in 2025 and played in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers in Jakarta. On April 9, 2026, she scored twice in Pakistan’s 8-0 win over Turks and Caicos at the FIFA Series in Abidjan.
What is her Ramadan nutrition guide?
At 15, Banaras developed a Ramadan Nutrition Guide and Meal Planner with club nutritionist Isobel Cotham and the Professional Footballers’ Association, to help Muslim athletes manage training and nutrition while fasting.
