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South Africa Sports Minister warns of World War III over Semanya |
The South African government has threatened a "third world war" if the International Association of Athletics Federation bans champion runner Caster Semenya over a test that shows her to be a hermaphrodite, a person with both female and male
sexual characteristics. The IAAF commissioned a gender test on the teenager after
her performance levels improved remarkably in the build-up to the competition.
The leaked report that a gender verification test had found the 18-year-old to
be a hermaphrodite with no womb was greeted with outrage in South Africa on Friday,
with politicians, sports officials and Semenya's relatives decrying the teenager's
public humiliation. On Friday the IAAF attempted to defuse the controversy by
refusing to confirm the medical reports, insisting that it would not make official
comment until after the test results had been verified by a panel of scientific
experts. But the prospect of the teenager being disqualified from future female
races drew a furious response from South African Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile,
The Telegraph reports. "I think it would be the third world war. We will go to
the highest levels in contesting such a decision. She's a woman, she remains our
heroine. We must protect her," he said. Semenya was due to run in a 4 km race at
the national cross-country championships in Pretoria on Saturday, but was withdrawn
by her coach Michael Seme on the grounds that she was "not feeling well". The
IAAF is expected to disqualify the South African from future events and advise
her to have surgery because her condition carries grave health risks, The Daily
Telegraph report claims. A source closely involved with the IAAF tests said Semenya
had internal testes -- the male sexual organs, which produce testosterone. "There
certainly is evidence Semenya is a hermaphrodite. But the trouble is the IAAF
now has the whole ANC and the whole of South Africa on their backs. Everything
is going to have to be done absolutely by the book, no question of a challenge
to the findings," the source said. |
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