Rules of the game - in sports as in anything else - cannot be arbitrary

IN ruling that it is acceptable to discriminate against an athlete for her natural physical attributes, the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) has opened a can of worms.

Last week, the court rejected South Africa's appeal against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF),which decided that female athletes with a condition described as "differences of sexual development" (DSD) have to take medication to compete in some track events or switch to another distance. Caster Semenya, South Africa's multiple Olympic, World and Commonwealth champion, thinks the IAAF "have always targeted me specifically". The CAS, aware that it is wading into ethical swamp, tried to have it both ways. The court found the IAAF decision discriminatory but held that it is "necessary, reasonable and proportionate" to protect "the integrity of female athletics". But in the 165-page award, the CAS panel also expressed some concerns as to the future practical application of the new DSD regulations; there might be a possibility of reversal or other changes should there be new evidence on this issue. Unfortunately for affected athletes, they have a only a few years to make it big. They cannot wait years until the CAS makes a final determination.

Most experts agree the concept of gender is complex. There are many biological markers of sex but none is decisive. It has also been pointed out that women with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome -their tissues have no ability to respond to testosterone at the cellular level - appear to be overrepresented among elite women athletes. Against this, the IAAF claims that 99 per cent of females have around 0.12 to 1.79 nmol/L of testosterone in their bodies - while those with the DSD condition are in the male range of 7.7 to 29.4 nmol/L. If Ms Semenya wants to compete, she must artificially limit her testosterone level to under 5 nmol/L,which is double the normal female range of below 2 nmol/L but still lower than that naturally produced in her body. Nor does this ruling stop with Ms Semenya. Another African athlete, Olympic silver medallist Francine Niyonsaba, two weeks ago confirmed she has the same hyperandrogenism as Ms Semenya and would thus now be also forced to take medication if she wants to compete under IAAF rules.