Amid eligibility concerns, Olympic officials should reintroduce gender testing to protect female athletes from injury, a UN adviser told UAE Breaking News.
The challenge from UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, comes as the Paris Games are embroiled in debate over the dangers of excess testosterone in women’s competition.
Ms Alsalem expressed concern that Italian boxer Angela Carini was subjected to violence because of her gender during her women’s bout against Imane Khelif, who is said to have failed a gender eligibility test.
The issue is due to be addressed in a report Ms Alsalem is currently preparing for the UN General Assembly in October, which will focus on violence against women in sport.
“Ensuring the physical safety of all our players is very important,” Alsalem said in an interview.
“We know that there are simple, efficient and dignified ways to determine gender that are non-invasive, cheap and reliable.
“I think the first thing to think about is why this is such a problem.
“If it can solve a problem and ease fears and worries in particular, then that’s entirely legitimate.
“So that really becomes my question for the IOC… In fact, I have been talking to the IOC about inclusion and diversity policies in preparation for the report.”
And IOC spokesman Mark Adams warned this week that “going back to the good old days of ‘gender testing’ would be a bad idea.” At the women’s tournament in Paris, Algerian Khelif and Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting came under intense scrutiny
The scandal-hit boxing association reported they had not passed gender eligibility tests – a procedure questioned by the IOC
Khelif was overwhelmed by Khelif’s punches on Thursday and abandoned the bout after just 46 seconds.
“I think yesterday proved that ignoring certain important standards can actually do more harm than good,” Alsalem said.
“Women and girls in sport have been saying for decades that it’s important that sport be exclusive to only one gender, especially in elite sport.
“And I think yesterday we saw that that’s not the case, that there are issues in terms of safety and fairness, but it’s putting athletes in a very difficult situation that nobody has control over and that they shouldn’t be in.”
The IOC reiterated this week that athletes can compete in women’s sports if their passport says female.
While the IOC warns against “discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sex,” the guidelines acknowledge that “the importance of testosterone in athletic performance varies from sport to sport.”
The IOC needs to take a clearer stance on biological sex and the benefits of male puberty, Ms. Alsalem said.
“I have consulted with various stakeholders, including women, both male and female athletes, and this issue is important to them,” she added.
“This topic has come up and I would like you to look into it… Ensuring fairness and safety are fundamental principles of sport.”