IAAF raises the game against Caster
SA stands firm before court ruling on ‘biological status’ of athlete
The South African government is standing firm behind Caster Semenya after a news report claimed that International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) lawyers will argue that the World and Olympic 800m champion should be classified as female but also as a “biological male” at a landmark case to be heard next week.
The IAAF rejected the “biological male” claims but added that they still want the Court of Arbitration for Sport to rule whether any athlete with differences in sexual development (DSD) must have their testosterone reduced to female levels before they compete internationally.
Semenya is challenging the proposed rule by the IAAF that seeks to restrict the levels of testosterone in female athletes and sports minister’s spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga said that they are fully behind her.
“We have noted the news that has broken out over the past 24 hours but we want to reiterate our support for Caster.
“Our stance has always been that someone like Caster, who has never injected anything in her body, must be allowed to compete‚” said Mhaga.
“Caster is a person who was born the way she is and there was never any stage in her life where she said she was a man.”
The IAAF insisted that the “biological male” claims published in the online edition of the Times are not true.
“The IAAF is not classifying any DSD athlete as male.
“To the contrary‚ we accept their legal sex without question‚ and permit them to compete in the female category‚” the IAAF said in a statement.
Semenya‚ Athletics SA‚ the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) and the government are challenging the IAAF’s eligibility rules that would oblige DSD runners in women’s races to have significantly reduced levels of testosterone for the previous six months.
Sascoc president Gideon Sam is to first view the IAAF statement before commenting.