JOHANNESBURG – The door appears to be closing on Caster Semenya’s appeal to the implementation of the IAAF’s controversial female eligibility rules.
Semenya’s bid to have the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) ruling in favour of the IAAF overturned received a significant blow this week.
The Swiss Federal Supreme Court revoked its super-provisional suspension of the rules pending the outcome of the appeal. The court also dismissed Athletics SA’s (ASA) request for the suspension of the DSD regulations for all female athletes.
The Swiss court provided a body blow buried at the bottom of its press release suggesting Semenya’s appeal was heading for rejection.
“The Swiss Federal Supreme Court concludes, in a first summary examination, that Caster Semenya’s appeal does not appear with high probability to be well-founded,” the Swiss court said in a statement.
“The CAS, after thoroughly evaluating the expert evidence, found that the '46 XY DSD' characteristic has a direct impact on performance in sport, which could never be achieved by other women. Thus, with the participation of a female athlete with '46 XY DSD' in the 'protected class women', a basic principle of top-class sports, namely fair competition, is disregarded from the outset.
The Swiss Federal Supreme Court is bound by this finding regarding the impact of '46 XY DSD' on performance.”