IAAF gives guarded response; says will consult IOC, experts

In a guarded response to the Court of Arbitration decision to suspend the IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations for two years in a case involving Dutee Chand, the world athletics body today said that it will consult experts and IOC on the future course of action.
In an interim award, a three-member panel of the CAS yesterday partially upheld Chand's appeal challenging the validity of the IAAF's Hyperandrogenism Regulations and allowed her to resume her career.
The world's top sports tribunal, however, did not close the case and said that it will hold further hearings if the IAAF furnishes more evidence "concerning the magnitude of the performance advantage that hyperandrogenic females enjoy over other females as a result of their abnormality of high androgen levels".

The IAAF's hyperandrogenism policy bars female athletes whose bodies produce natural levels of testosterone above permissible range. The 19-year-old Dutee was disqualified last year by the AFI as per IAAF's hyperandrogenism policy after tests revealed that she has this condition of hyperandrogenism.
"IAAF has received the CAS's interim award in the Dutee Chand case, where the validity of IAAF's Hyperandrogenism Regulations has been challenged," the world body said in a statement.
"The IAAF will now meet as soon as possible with its experts and with the IOC and its experts to discuss how best to address this interim ruling by the CAS. The IAAF will make no further comments on this subject until those discussions are concluded," it added.

The IAAF said that the Hyperandrogenism Regulations were adopted following a lengthy and comprehensive consultation exercise by its Expert Working Group in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee, involving world-leading experts across various fields, along with numerous other stakeholders.