It’s about a level field, says Coe

London, Aug. 10: IAAF chief Sebastian Coe empathises with the plight of Indian sprinter Dutee Chand, whose career has been hit by the controversial ‘gender testing’ issue, but insists it needs to create a “levelplaying field” for all athletes.

A hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne, Switzerland, is likely to come next month in the ongoing appeal proceedings after Dutee challenged the International Association of Athletics Federations’ Hyperandrogenism Policy.

The policy bars female athletes with high levels of naturally producing testosterone from competing on the ground that they have an ‘unfair advantage’ over their peers. When Coe was told about the sensitivity of the case in India with many social activists supporting Dutee in her fight, he said: “I can understand it, we are human beings. It is for the international federation to create ways of level-playing field for its competitors and this is an issue where we need systems and understandings in place which is clear to everybody.”

Coe, whose mother was born to a Punjabi father, said in the near future India should get to host some big one-day meets, though he did not name the events. “If we have good events in India that will be an attraction, young people will join athletics,” he said.

He was impressed by the turnout in Bhubaneswar during the Asian Athletics Championships last month. “I was pleased to see large crowd coming at the stadium. I was pleased to speak to commercial organisations. It is good time for India to embrace athletics,” said Coe, twotime Olympic 1500m gold medallist.