The IAAF should listen to Prof Cornelius
It would be easy to dismiss the words of Pretoria law Professor Steve Cornelius in his resignation from the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) Disciplinary Tribunal as simple South African patriotism.
South Africa’s Caster Semenya won her first Commonwealth medal with victory in the women’s 1,500m.
This is because one of the people who will be affected by the IAAF’s revised “gender rules” will be our own Caster Semenya.
Cornelius said his decision was based on “deep moral grounds” because he could not be part of a system applying regulations which he believes are “fundamentally flawed and most likely unlawful in various jurisdictions around the globe”.
He added: “I cannot with good conscience continue to associate myself with an organisation which insists on ostracising specific individuals, all of them female, for no reason other than being what they are born to be.
“The adoption of the new eligibility regulations for female classification is based on the same kind of ideology that has led to some of the worse injustices and atrocities in the history of our planet.”
As a man of both the law, and of ethics, Cornelius should be listened to – by both the IAAF and by those at home who believe the action is justified.
We agree with him: This is an injustice.
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