FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
02 May 2019
SAMA disappointed, shocked at Semenya ruling
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) expresses its deep disappointment with the loss of the court challenge by Olympic champion Caster Semenya at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Geneva, Switzerland. Semenya challenged the IAAF’s rules forcing female athletes to regulate their testosterone levels.
“We supported the World Medical Association’s (WMA) demand for the immediate withdrawal of the Differences of Sexual Development (DSD) rule, which we believe constitutes a systematic affront to the dignity of all female athletes. This ruling today is both shocking and disconcerting. This certainly cannot be the way forward for sport,” says Dr Angelique Coetzee, chairperson of SAMA, in reacting to the news.
Dr Coetzee says SAMA will stand firmly behind Semenya should she wish to appeal the ruling in the Swiss Federal Tribunal. Semenya has 30 days to lodge her appeal should she wish to do so.
“That a world-class athlete has to endure this level of discrimination is unacceptable, unnecessary, and harmful,” notes Dr Coetzee.
The World Medical Association (WMA) has reiterated its advice to physicians around the world to take no part in implementing the new eligibility regulations for classifying female athletes. WMA President Leonid Eidelman noted, “We have strong reservations about the ethical validity of these regulations. They are based on weak evidence from a single study, which is currently being widely debated by the scientific community. They are also contrary to a number of key WMA ethical statements and declarations, and as such we are calling for their immediate withdrawal.”
Notes to Editors
About SAMA
The South African Medical Association was formally constituted on 21 May 1998 as a unification of a variety of doctors’ groups that had represented a diversity of interests. SAMA is a non-statutory, professional association for public, and private sector medical practitioners. SAMA is a voluntary membership association, existing to serve the best interests and needs of its members in any and all healthcare related matter
Contact:
Head of PR & Communications
Dr Simonia Magardie
082 905 8505
Email: simoniam@samedical.org
Spokesperson
Chairperson: SAMA
Dr A Coetzee
082 379 8118
Email: dr.coetzee@worldonline.co.za
Spokesperson 2
Vice-Chairperson: SAMA
Dr M Mzukwa
076 382 8152
Email: mzukwam@gmail.com