FEAR was the driving force behind Leonard Chuene retaining his seat at the head of the Athletics South Africa board, a senior ASA official said yesterday.

FEAR was the driving force behind Leonard Chuene retaining his seat at the head of the Athletics South Africa board, a senior ASA official said yesterday.

An ASA special general meeting was held in Kempton Park last week to discuss the federation's handling of the Caster Semenya gender fiasco after Chuene and other senior members of the national body admitted to lying about tests conducted on the teenage athlete in Pretoria last month.

But the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his provincial federation had been too scared to discuss Chuene's lies - a subject that was apparently not even raised in the meeting.

"The only thing that was discussed was what the rest of us would have done had we been in Chuene's shoes," said the official. "His lies were never discussed."

Much of the meeting was expected to revolve around whether or not Chuene remains fit to lead the federation, but his position as ASA president never went to a vote because nobody in the meeting raised the motion.

Another ASA senior official said "those meetings are like a braai among friends" and members outside Chuene's circle were too scared to challenge him. - Sapa