Athletics SA (ASA) on Saturday lodged its statement of appeal to the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) which will challenge the IAAF’s new regulations concerning athletes with hyperandrogenism.
The IAAF ruling will be implemented in November which will require affected athletes to take testosterone-lowering medication. The ruling is seen to target SA’s World and Olympic champion Caster Semenya.
President of ASA, Aleck Skhosana and IAAF president Sebastian Coe are scheduled to meet on the matter in the next week.
In ASA’s statement it contends a number of issues including the following:
The Regulations discriminate impermissibly against certain female athletes on the basis of (i) natural physical characteristics; and/or sex.
The Regulations, and their implementation constitute an infringement of the rights of the affected female athletes to human dignity, an inviolable human right.
The scheme of the Regulations is such that identifying cases for assessment is subjective and potentially discriminatory.
ASA has also applied for the implementation of the Regulations to be suspended pending the outcome of the CAS arbitration.
This is on the basis that there are prospects of success in the arbitration, irreparable prejudice and harm will result if the Regulations are implemented from November, and the balance of interests favours affected female athletes. - African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman
