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Cape Town - Caster Semenya has expressed her disappointment at a press release issued by the IAAF on Monday in which the world athletics governing body disclosed the names of expert witnesses it plans to call before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Semenya, the women's world 800m champion, arrived at the sports tribunal in Lausanne on Monday to challenge proposed rules that could force her to lower her testosterone levels.
In a statement on its official website, the IAAF revealed the names of experts supporting its Eligibility Regulations for athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD).
Semenya's legal team replied with a statement in which they expressed their disappointment at the IAAF’s press release:
“The arbitration proceedings are subject to strict confidentiality provisions and this information should not have been released. Ms Semenya believes the IAAF press release is a clear breach of the confidentiality provisions that was 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.
“As a matter of fairness Ms Semenya raised this issue with the CAS and has been granted permission to publicly release information responding to the IAAF press release, including disclosing the experts who are testifying in support of Ms Semenya’s case. This information will be released tomorrow.
“She is grateful to the CAS for opportunity to present her case and for granting her permission to disclose her list of experts publicly in response to the IAAF. Going forward the CAS has reiterated that the arbitration proceedings are confidential and information about the case should not be disclosed publicly," the statement concluded.
The introduction of the IAAF press statement read: "The IAAF believes that equal treatment of men and women is not just a formal requirement of its Constitution but that empowering girls and women through athletics is a core value of the organisation, at the heart of what it believes the sport can offer to participants and to the world. The IAAF is committed to doing everything in its power to realise that value, for the benefit of the sport and of society in general."
The names of the experts the IAAF plans to use include:
- Dr Angelica Lindén Hirschberg, a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Department of Women´s and Children's Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, with special focus on Reproductive Endocrinology.
- David Handelsman, a Professor of Reproductive Endocrinology and Andrology, University of Sydney, inaugural Director of the ANZAC Research Institute and head of Andrology Department, Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
- Joanna Harper, who has worked as a medical physicist for more than 30 years and is also a long-time athletics competitor.
- Doriane Lambelet Coleman, a Professor of Law at Duke Law School. She specialises in teaching and scholarship related to culture, women, children, medicine, and law.
- Richard Auchus, MD, PhD, a former Professor of Pharmacology and Internal Medicine in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Diabetes and Director of the Endocrinology Fellowship Programme at the Medical School of the University of Michigan.
