South African government calls for athletics boss to be fired

South Africa’s government has called for the country’s top athletics official to be fired for lying about gender tests done on runner Caster Semenya.

Athletics South Africa President Leonard Chuene admitted he lied when denying any tests on Semenya’s gender had been done in the country, but said he did so to protect the runner’s privacy.

Deputy Sports Minister Gert Oosthuizen said in a statement that Chuene’s denials were not in Semenya’s interest but to the detriment of the women’s 800-meter world champion, whose gender is being investigated.