Lausanne:In a big relief for Dutee Chand, the Court of Arbitration for Sports today allowed the Indian sprinter to resume her career as it partially upheld her appeal against the IAAF Regulation on Hyperandrogenism which had barred her from taking part in women’s competitions.
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Chand was suspended last year due to hyperandrogenism – the presence of high levels of testosterone in some females – which made her ineligible under the rules of the IAAF, the governing body for track and field.
A three-member CAS panel, chaired by Justice Annabelle Claire Bennett (Federal Court of Australia) suspended the worldwide Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) regulation, that governs eligibility of females with naturally-occurring Hyperandrogenism.
The IAAF’s rules on hyperandrogenism will be declared void if no evidence is presented by the deadline.
“When I got to know the judgement – I can’t tell you how I felt”.
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal has welcomed the decision of Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the apex court in sports regarding Indian athlete Dutee Chand. As a result, my performance steadily went down as reflected in the third position I secured in the national athletics at Chennai recently.
During that time Chand, the first athlete to challenge the rules, will be able to compete. It was heartbreaking at times and I cried many times. It was probably because I knew this verdict could break or make my life. I had lost hopes of competing in global events ever again. If the IAAF is unable to provide scientific evidence of significantly enhanced performance in hyperandrogenic athletes by the end of the 2 year period set by the CAS, the previously held Hyperandrogenism Regulations will be thrown out as void. “I thought I would continue the fight or otherwise I would groom other athletes who would bring laurels for the country”, said an elated Chand.
“But now that I am in the clear, I can finally give my full performance for the country”.
She said the ruling meant she could now focus on qualifying for next year’s Olympics and improving her timings in her favourite 100 and 200-metre races.
The IAAF noted the CAS ruling although it also took heart from some of the observations.
In its ruling, Cas urged the IAAF to create a procedure where athletes should be allowed to compete in one of the female or male categories and should not be excluded as a “consequence of the natural and unaltered state of their body.”
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“The IAAF will now meet as soon as possible with its experts, and with the IOC and its experts, to discuss how best to address this interim ruling by the CAS”, the body said in a statement.
