EDITORIAL: We have come to expect discrimination from world athletics bodies. Witness the ongoing battle to force Caster Semenya off the track.
Last month the International Amateur Athletics Federation decided to drop the 5 000m and 10 000m events from its lucrative Diamond League fixtures.
There’s no discrimination against Africans, claimed the IAAF’s chief, the now infamous Sebastian Coe, saying the changes were designed to make the competition more commercially lucrative.Beyond the prestige and the sense of accomplishment that elite athletes enjoy performing on the world stage, this is also a job that consumes the best years of their lives and ensures livelihoods. Competing in an event that only those present are likely to witness dramatically decreases sponsorship viability.
Recently she appeared to suggest her own way forward through this debacle, by successfully having a tilt at the 5 000m, which does not require her to undergo hormone therapy to reduce her testosterone levels.The IAAF has couched its reasoning throughout these sagas in words and phrases like “fairness” and “level playing field”.
But this is not enough. With the stroke of a pen the IAAF, with the complicity of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, has potentially taken away the livelihood of not only Semenya but also the likes of Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba, who finished second behind her at the Rio Olympics in 2016. And, as too many Africans know all too intimately, with it the association seeks to eviscerate their dignity.
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