
DURBAN - Champion middle distance runner Caster Semenya says she is not aware of the reported R25m funding by the South African government towards her legal fees as she squares up with the IAAF at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAA) in Zurich.
Semenya is challenging an IAAF proposed rule change that aims to restrict the levels of testosterone in female athletes.
Semenya released a statement through her legal representatives, Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa, where she denied that she had received R25m towards her legal bill as reported in the media this week.
“It has come to my attention that on February 15 an article was published that the government has paid R25m towards my case. Whilst I have no knowledge of what was paid by the government to its legal and medical team in respect of its own case, my personal representation has been funded mainly by private funders and the portion funded by the government is a small fraction of the amount that has been quoted in the article,” said Semenya.
Semenya has also warned fans that she is not party to a petition which is running purpotedly to support her.