To back Dutee Chand, ministry withdraws hyperandrogenism rules

Govt said that it would do everything possible to provide support as her appeal at the CAS comes up for hearing.

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Dutee Chand looking for gold in the national games. (Express Photo)

In a bid to assist young sprinter Dutee Chand in her hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) later this month, the sports ministry has withdrawn the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which it had implemented two years ago to determine eligibility of female athletes.

Dutee will leave for Lausanne on Saturday, where her appeal against the decision to make her ineligible to compete in the female category will be heard next week by the CAS.

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In a circular sent earlier this month, the sports ministry said the SOP has been withdrawn with immediate effect. “…keeping in view the available scientific opinion and also to promote fairness and inclusivity in sport, it has been decided to withdraw this department’s office memorandum dated 19.3.2013 and 3.9.2013…with immediate effect,” the office memorandum signed by under-secretary SPS Tomar read.

The SOP was in line with the International Amateur Athletics Federation regulations. A ministry official said they had to withdraw the guideline to be in sync with their stand on the issue. “We cannot implement rules prescribed by IAAF at a time when Dutee has challenged them. It contradicts our stand. Hence, we have decided to withdraw the SOP,” a senior ministry official said.

Dutee, a bronze medallist in the Asian Championships and a finalist in the World Youth Championships, was barred from competing by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for having higher level of testosterone, as per the rules of the IAAF.

In conjunction to those rules, the ministry had adopted the SOP in 2013, which is put in place by the IAAF to identify circumstances of female hyperandrogenism. The SOP laid down several guidelines to conduct a test on the athlete suspected of hyperandrogenism.

The policy recommended that a woman athlete with hyperandrogenism may lower her androgen to a specific level with the help of hormone therapy or surgery and then only compete as a woman.

Ministerial backing

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Sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal termed Dutee Chand as a medal prospect and said that the government would do everything possible to provide support as her appeal at the Court of Arbitration of Sport comes up for hearing from March 23.

“The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Sports Authority of India has provided financial support as far as Dutee’s case at CAS goes. We are backing her case. We are hopeful that she will win the case and we remain positive,” Sonowal said on Thursday.