The Hindu : Sport : OCA seeks return of medal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 19, 2006
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OCA seeks return of medal

K. P. Mohan

NEW DELHI: The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has sought the silver medal awarded to S. Santhi back because of a "Games rule violation" committed by the athlete during the just-concluded Asian Games in Doha.

An official letter from the OCA Director-General, Husain Al-Musallam, dated December 17, addressed to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President, Suresh Kalmadi, was forwarded on Monday to the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

Neither the OCA letter nor the IOA letter to the AFI mentions the `gender verification' process that Santhi had to undergo in Doha before she was deemed to have failed the test carried out by a medical panel of the OCA.

The OCA letter stated that on the recommendation of the Medical Committee and the OCA Working Committee at the Games it was decided to disqualify the athlete and seek the return of the medal. The IOA has asked the AFI to give the silver medal back.

Damage control

In what was obviously a damage control exercise carried out by the OCA after news leaked on Sunday about the gender verification test, the best way out was found to be a disqualification under a "rule violation".

This is what is normally done in such cases so as to avoid embarrassment and mental trauma to the athlete, but the IOA did not help matters even on Monday by stating in its release that it had asked Dr. Manmohan Singh, Chairman of its Medical Commission to enquire into the matter and submit a report to it within 10 days.

What possibly can Dr. Manmohan Singh enquire into unless the matter is related to certain medical or gender rule violation will naturally be the question that will arise.

Dr. Manmohan Singh was involved in the deliberations that went on in Doha and was quoted by wire agencies on Sunday night that Santhi had "failed" a gender verification test.

The Tamil Nadu athlete will not be able to compete till a competent authority clears her after surgery and hormonal therapy and a minimum two-year period has elapsed. However, it is to be seen whether the AFI would be prepared to return the medal and give an undertaking that Santhi would not be entered in competitions or try to contest the decision of the OCA.

It is learnt that contrary to earlier indications that there was a `protest' by another team, which even now cannot be ruled out, Santhi was called before the Medical Committee to undergo the gender verification process after a doping control official reported the matter.

Till 1996, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) conducted femininity tests through what was called a buccal smear or sex chromatin test (scraping tissue from inside the cheek and testing for chromosome), but it was discontinued after the Atlanta Olympics. In 1999, the IOC decided to do away with gender verification at Olympics, though several international federations including those in judo and basketball continued to do so.

Random verification

The IOC at present has a random verification process but in the event of a question being raised about the gender of a competitor the medical delegate of the relevant sports body can take appropriate measures to determine the gender of an athlete.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) also has a similar set of rules regarding gender verification and in all probability the IAAF rules were applied in Doha while examining Santhi's case. There could be no confirmation about this from sports officials on Monday.

The gender verification process involves the setting up of a panel of medical and other experts and apart from the examination of the genitalia by a gynaecologist, the athlete is also subjected to various tests to determine the facts about her uterus, ovaries etc apart from her endocrine values and other relevant aspects.

It is not known what all tests Santhi had to undergo at Doha and who all constituted the medical panel.

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