Young athlete said to be in depression after SAI flouts international rule on hyperandrogenism
It's a story which could prove fatal for India's top athlete.
A gender test conducted by Sports Authority of India (SAI) on 18-year-old Odisha sprinter Dutee Chand could well put her life in danger for their mistake of not maintaining the "confidentiality" as prescribed in the document published by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) on hyperandrogenism in 2011.
With her name repeatedly being taken in news media across the country, Dutee, who is currently in Bangalore, has expressed her anguish and pain over the manner she has been treated.
"I am so depressed over what is happening around me. It's not just me but my entire family which is under a lot of stress," Dutee said, adding: "Had the medical tests been conducted earlier, I could have got myself cured and participated in the Commonwealth Games at Glasgow. If my state takes steps to get me cured, I will again play for my country in international events and bring laurels for the country."
However, a close friend of Dutee told dna over phone that she is depressed and can even commit suicide.
Meanwhile, Odisha sports secretary Saswat Mishra dispatched two women coaches to Bangalore immediately to speak to Dutee. However, the bigger question is that why did the SAI top official fail to maintain "secrecy" in this case?
Earlier instances
Why have SAI or AFI has not learnt any lessons from their earlier experiences. They had the instance of Santi Soundarrajan "gender case" which was handled shabbily by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) when her eligibility to compete in the female category was contested after her silver medal victory in the 800 metres during the Doha Asian Games.
Santi was eventually stripped of the medal and sent back home alone. Having no one to take care around, Santi tried to take her life under utter humiliation.
The case of Bengal athlete Pinki Pramanik was even bizarre. She was forced to undergo gender test during the course of a criminal investigation by the local police. Though, Pinki's case had nothing to do with AFI or SAI but the kind of humiliation she had to undergo can well have been a lesson for the future.
The "confidential" and "confidentiality" are words that together appear eight times in the document published by the IAAF on hyperandrogenism in 2011. The word "confidential" appears 10 times in the document circulated by the sports ministry last year on standard operative procedures (SOP) on hyperandrogenism.
Yet, Dutee's name appeared in media reports as though the right of the media to disclose a name in such a case is more important than the right and dignity of the individual. Dutee is bit confused about her next course of action, but can certainly pursue the legal defamation course against these organisations.
SAI could well say that its press note didn't mention her name but the note was clear how the tests went and what the final outcome was.
How did this happen despite the government having issued an SOP on female hyperandrogenism last year?
How did this happen when SAI is now claiming "confidentiality protocol" prevents it from naming the athlete?
How did this happen when SAI is insisting that it was only following regulations set out by the IAAF and the International Olympic Committee (IOC)?
The answer is simple... With few over enthusiastic SAI officials are responding to queries from the media without too much of concern about "confidentiality", this is bound to happen. To make the matters worse, Dutee's photograph was also published by few papers.
No gender test allowed
The gender rules were amended by the IAAF in 2011 and IOC also brought in a new set of regulations in 2012 before the London Olympic Games.
The changes were brought in because of the furore caused by the revelation of South African athlete Caster Semenya's name in 2009 after she had been asked to undergo a gender test by IAAF following her victory in the 800m at the World Championships.
Semenya's tests were kept secret and she was also allowed to make a comeback into the competitive sport in 2010. She won silver in London but did nothing substantial after that.
Having learnt about its mistake, the SAI top official also tried to explain that there cannot be "gender test" since it was banned by the IAAF and the IOC, and it was only trying to verify the athlete's androgen levels.
Only Dutee can tell you her state of mind after this entire episode will be over!
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