Athletics South Africa (ASA) has expressed delight at the decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) declaring that the decision to impose the DSD regulations on Caster Semenya was discriminatory and in violation of her human rights.
A press statement by the ASA today notes:
“The ruling has vindicated ASA who has all along contended that the regulations were ill-conceived, did not have a proper scientific basis and were highly discriminatory against elite female athletes with elevated testosterone levels, which did not give them an unfair advantage over their other female competitors.
Athletics South Africa statement – 11 June 2023
“ASA concurs with the Court’s views that Semenya had not been provided with sufficient institutional and procedural safeguards at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and at the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to have her complaints against the regulations examined effectively and that domestic remedies available to her could not be considered effective in her case.
“The Court also found that she had been discriminated against and the respect for her private life as well as her rights to an effective remedy had been violated.
“ASA is still awaiting the judgment to be handed down in English whereupon ASA will confer with its legal team to ascertain the consequences of the courts ruling and to make a determination on her rights to participate in the sport of athletics.
“ASA would like to once again thank the government of South Africa, the ASA Board, legal and medical teams, all other organisations and individuals that supported the challenge against the highly discriminatory regulations that precluded her from participating in the sport in which she and other affected athletes excelled, and ASA looks forward to welcoming her earliest return to the international athletics competitions in due course.”
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Goitse is a writer, journalist and salsa dancer based in Gaborone, Botswana.
