'Third world war' if Semenya barred: SA ministerSouth Africa's sports minister said Friday there will be a "third world war" if Caster cast·er n. 1. One that casts: a caster of nets. 2. also cas·tor A small wheel on a swivel, attached under a piece of furniture or other heavy object to make it easier to move. Semenya is barred from competing, after a media report that the gold medallist is a hermaphrodite hermaphrodite (hərmăf`rədīt'), animal or plant that normally possesses both male and female reproductive systems, producing both eggs and sperm. . "I think it would be the third world war. We will go to the highest levels in contesting such a decision," sports minister Makhenkesi Stofile told a media conference in Pretoria, saying such a move would be "totally unfair". Stofile was reacting to a Sydney Daily Telegraph report, citing an unnamed source involved in tests on the world 800-metre champion, which said Semenya had both male and female sex organs and no womb or ovaries Ovaries The female sex organs that make eggs and female hormones. Mentioned in: Choriocarcinoma ovaries (ō´v . South Africa's government will carry out its own tests on Semenya before the world athletics' governing body Noun 1. governing body - the persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something; "he claims that the present administration is corrupt"; "the governance of an association is responsible to its members"; "he IAAF IAAF abbr. International Amateur Athletic Federation makes a decision in November on the 18-year-old's case, reported the Sapa news agency. "We can't wait for November," Stofile told the briefing. The teenager, who grew up in a rural north-east South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. village, was meant to run a four-kilometre race at the national cross-country championships in Pretoria Saturday but had pulled out, her coach said. "We have decided that Caster will not run tomorrow," said Michael Seme, adding that the runner was "not feeling well". Athletics officials and Semenya's family reacted angrily to the article which follows a media frenzy after the IAAF confirmed Semenya was subject to a sex verification probe before she won the 800m in Berlin last month. "I've raised her as young girl and I have no doubt that she is a girl. As the family, we don't care who is saying what and we also don't care, even if she won't be running internationally, but we will always support her athletic talent," Semenya's grandmother Maphuthi Sekgale told The Times newspaper. The world athletics governing body downplayed any involvement with the report, saying in a statement released on Friday: "We would like to emphasise that these should not be considered as official statements by the IAAF." South African President Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (born Inkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, April 12, 1942) is a former Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa and current deputy president of the governing political party, the African National Congress (ANC). took a swipe at the media Friday, saying it had invaded the teenager's privacy. "I think we are faced with an unfortunate situation in this country where we claim to respect privacy and the rights of people, but then we do something that moves against those principles and values."
|
|
||||||||||||||

Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion