YOU would expect an august body like the International Amateur Athletics Federation to have impeccable human rights credentials.
YOU would expect an august body like the International Amateur Athletics Federation to have impeccable human rights credentials.
The last thing you would expect is for them to wrap in cotton wool every aspirant athlete, especially those with potential to raise standards and competition.
Lest we forget, the East Germans ran away with women's Olympic events by entering whole teams of biologically engineered amazons in the past. That is obviously unfair to the other competitors.
But in the case of South Africa's 18-year-old 800m gold medallist, Caster Semenya, the IAAF abandoned its own rules, and made her the leper of the Berlin world championships.
The teenager from Limpopo is instead facing the most gruelling and humiliating test of her life.
Semenya has not been given a chance to revel in the fact that she is rapidly making a name as the best middle-distance female runner in the world.
South Africa has roundly condemned this duplicity by the IAAF. Parliament is in fact threatening to take the IAAF to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
Equally incensed is Athletic South Africa's Leonard Chuene, who has left his seat on the IAAF council because he'd rather be on the side of rightiousness.
Now it is Africa joining the fray, raising every question Chuene has pointed out that the IAAF has not answered.
The conduct of the international body was racist and humiliating. The IAAF cannot be allowed to divide the world of sport, they say.
And we say, ride on brothers!
The IAAF is a disgrace
YOU would expect an august body like the International Amateur Athletics Federation to have impeccable human rights credentials.
YOU would expect an august body like the International Amateur Athletics Federation to have impeccable human rights credentials.
The last thing you would expect is for them to wrap in cotton wool every aspirant athlete, especially those with potential to raise standards and competition.
Lest we forget, the East Germans ran away with women's Olympic events by entering whole teams of biologically engineered amazons in the past. That is obviously unfair to the other competitors.
But in the case of South Africa's 18-year-old 800m gold medallist, Caster Semenya, the IAAF abandoned its own rules, and made her the leper of the Berlin world championships.
The teenager from Limpopo is instead facing the most gruelling and humiliating test of her life.
Semenya has not been given a chance to revel in the fact that she is rapidly making a name as the best middle-distance female runner in the world.
South Africa has roundly condemned this duplicity by the IAAF. Parliament is in fact threatening to take the IAAF to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
Equally incensed is Athletic South Africa's Leonard Chuene, who has left his seat on the IAAF council because he'd rather be on the side of rightiousness.
Now it is Africa joining the fray, raising every question Chuene has pointed out that the IAAF has not answered.
The conduct of the international body was racist and humiliating. The IAAF cannot be allowed to divide the world of sport, they say.
And we say, ride on brothers!