IAAF slammed for ‘underhand tactics’
Expert witnesses’ names ‘unfairly released’ ahead of court battle
ATHLETICS South Africa (ASA) believes the IAAF has resorted to “underhand tactics to try to win support for their views in the court of public opinion”, referring to the upcoming battle between Caster Semenya and the international athletics federation.
“ASA will in due course be making a more comprehensive disclosure of its experts’ views on the issues at hand to enable the public to be made aware of our various role players in this case and their fields of expertise, who will counter the expert evidence to be tendered by the IAAF,” ASA said.
Semenya’s legal team has hit out at the IAAF for releasing their list of expert witnesses ahead of their battle before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne this week.
Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright castigated the IAAF for disclosing the names of their experts ahead of the arbitration proceedings.
“The arbitration proceedings are subject to strict confidentiality provisions and this information should not have been released,” the firm said.
“Ms Semenya believes the IAAF press release is a clear breach of the confidentiality provisions that were orchestrated in an effort to influence public opinion in circumstances where the IAAF knew that Ms Semenya would not be prepared to respond because she was complying with her confidentiality obligations.”
The CAS has subsequently granted Semenya’s legal team permission to publicly release information responding to the IAAF release as a matter of fairness.
Norton Rose Fulbright said it would disclose its list of experts that would testify in Semenya’s case today.
“She is grateful to the CAS for the opportunity to present her case and for granting her permission to disclose her list of experts publicly in response to the IAAF,” Norton Rose Fulbright said.
“Going forward, the CAS has reiterated that the arbitration proceedings are confidential and information about the case should not be disclosed.”
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported Semenya had arrived in Lausanne ahead of the CAS hearings, which have been scheduled for five days.
The IAAF yesterday defended their female eligibility regulations that will require women with naturally elevated levels of testosterone to drop to below five nanomoles for at least six months.
This will include athletes who participate in events ranging from the 400m to the mile.
“The female category in sport is a protected category,” the IAAF said in a statement. “It must have eligibility standards.”