The insinuation that the gender verification tests conducted on Caster Semenya ”were not conducted in keeping with their (International Association of Athletics Federations) own stated gender verification policies and rules” are baseless.
The ANC Caster Semenya support task team recently released a statement advising the IAAF to declare the gender tests conducted in South Africa and Berlin null and void.
Athletics South Africa boss Leonard Chuene and Butana Komphela, the chairperson of Parliament’s portÂÂfolio committee on sports and recreation, have accused the IAAF of flouting its own rules.
According to the 2009 IAAF Rule 113 on the Medical Delegate: ”The Medical Delegate shall have ultimate authority on all medical matters. He shall … also, according to IAAF Rules 2008, have the authority to arrange for the determination of the gender of an athlete should he judge that to be desirable.”
This rule states clearly that gender verification tests may be conducted if, according to the discretion of the IAAF Medical Delegate, it is desirable to conduct such tests.
The rule does not prescribe any other requirement for gender ÂÂverification tests to be conducted on an athlete.
After widespread reaction when Semenya improved her time by close to eight seconds, the IAAF Medical Delegate deemed it necessary to commission Athletics South Africa (ASA) to conduct preliminary tests on her. According to the rule, it was the prerogative of the IAAF Medical Delegate to commission such tests. ASA did not raise any objections.
At the 2009 IAAF World Championships, the IAAF Medical Delegate also conducted tests on Semenya. Neither the results of the South African tests nor those conducted by the IAAF have been made public.
Chuene argues that the IAAF broke its own rules. An M&G exposé forced him to admit to lying when he professed ignorance about tests done in South Africa.
A senior athletics boss close to ASA said: ”By lying he was seeking to hide ASA’s active involvement in the whole process, so that he may then be in a position to hurl abuse and point accusing fingers at the IAAF, and in the process … garner enough political support for his immoral cause, so that ultimately he may politicise the whole matter successfully.”
He continued: ”Chuene is saying that the IAAF did not follow their own rules in conducting the gender verification tests on Semenya.
”If this were indeed the case, the IAAF would have had no leg to stand on and the whole matter would have tilted completely in ASA’s favour.
”Chuene would not have had to lie. All ASA would have had to do was simply lodge a protest with the IAAF on the basis of the unconstitutionality of the gender verification tests.
”But, interestingly, while ASA know very well that the avenue of a protest/appeal/complaint is available to them if they feel that the IAAF did not follow [its] constitution, they have still not pursued this inviting option.
”The question is why? And the answer is simply that they know that their claims are baseless and nonsensical.”