Lausanne, March 23: The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) began hearing Monday the appeal filed by Dutee Chand against the IAAF’s hyperandrogenism policy, which bars female athletes having higher level of male hormones from competitions.
The 19-year-old Dutee was disqualified from competitions last year by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) as per IAAF’s hyperandrogenism policy after tests revealed that her body produced natural levels of testosterone above permissible range.
Dutee has a condition called hyperandrogenism and her body produces natural levels of testosterone so high that they place her in the male range in the eyes of international track and field. Her legal team will argue the ruling is discriminatory and flawed.
The case is expected to last four days. Dutee, however, participated in the recently-concluded National Games and bagged a gold in the 100 metres. The CAS listed the appeal on its website to be heard from March 23-26 and reports said that a final decision might take time to come. “A final judgment could take weeks or even months,” a report on the ‘BBC Sport’ website said.
At the CAS hearing, Dutee’s counsels include some well known international experts like James Bunting and former Justice of the Canadian Supreme Court Morris Fish. The sports ministry is bearing the cost of Dutee’s legal battle at the CAS. Dutee was forced to miss the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games last year after failing the test but refused the medical treatment to help make her eligible.
IAAF’s hyperandrogenism policy recommends that a woman athlete with hyperandrogenism may lower her androgen to a specified level with the help of hormone therapy or surgery and then compete as a woman.
