We have noted the public participation on 3 Shepolopolo players and their exclusion
and stigmatization from participating in the Women Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON)
stemming from Confederation of African Football gender verification form and
requirements of players to meet certain standards to confirm their sex.
In June, 2022, word of Racheal Kundananji and Racheal Nachula being dropped
from the 2022 WAFCAON team surfaced. This followed the announcement that
Shepolopolo captain, Barbra Banda was excluded from the squad by the governing
body for African football, Confederation of African Football (CAF), with reports that
Barbara Banda was omitted after she returned natural testosterone levels higher
than typical in females.
This was not the first time an athlete/ sports figure had been dropped for similar
reasons resulting from sex testing of individuals who possess naturally higher levels
of testosterone that is usual for female athletes.
Often, the results have been associated with doping by athletes to boost their
performance to possibly win competitions. However, not every athlete that returns a
sex test result with testosterone levels higher than the typical female is guilty of
enhancing their performance to gain better chances of winning competitions.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) developed a framework that counters
many harmful elements in the World Athletics “sex testing” regulations that have
been recognized, including by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights, as contributing to a cascade of human rights violations against
athletes with variations in their sex characteristics.
The new IOC fairness and non-discrimination framework states that:
� Sports organizations should identify and prevent negative direct and indirect
impacts on athletes’ health and well-being that may come from the design,
implementation, and/ or interpretation of eligibility criteria.
� Criteria to determine disproportionate competitive advantage may, at times,
require testing an athlete’s performance and physical capacity. However, no
athlete should be subject to targeted testing of, or aimed at determining, their
sex, gender identity, and/ or sex variations.
� No athlete should be precluded from competing or excluded from competition
on the exclusive ground of an unverified, alleged, or perceived unfair
competitive advantage due to their sex variations, physical appearance, and/
or transgender status.
� Any restrictions arising from eligibility criteria should be based on robust and
peer reviewed research.
� Athletes should never be pressured by an international federation, sports
organization, or any other party- either by way of the eligibility criteria or
otherwise- to undergo medically unnecessary procedures or treatment to
meet eligibility criteria.

� Criteria to determine eligibility for a gender category should not include
gynaecological examinations or similar forms of invasive physical
examinations, aimed at determining an athlete’s sex, sex variations, or
gender.
� Medical information about an athlete, including testosterone levels, that is
collected in the context of anti-doping or otherwise, must be handles in
compliance with applicable privacy laws and should be used only for the
purposes disclosed to the athlete at the time such information is collected.
� Sports organizations should avoid public disclosure of athletes’ confidential
health and other personal information in the absence of the athletes’’ consent.
� Eligibility criteria should be subject to predictable periodic review to reflect any
relevant ethical, human rights, legal, scientific, and medical developments in
this area and should include the affected stakeholder’s feedback on their
application.
The principles outlined in the IOC’s fairness and non-discrimination framework align
with the human rights protections in the Olympic Charter, including Principle 4, which
states that “every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without
discrimination of any kind,” and Principle 6, which states that, “the enjoyment of the
rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without
discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other
status.”

TBZ recommends that there is increased education and awareness of difference of
sex development within the sport fraternity/ community.
We further recommend that sports associations discourage discrimination,
surveillance, and compelled medical intervention on athletes as they often result in
physical and psychological harm and economic hardship.
There needs to be more investment in females in the sports discipline to allow for the
attainment of gender equity and equality; from resources, investment and prioritizing
of female coaches to offer coaching and co-coaching of female athletes. This further
enhances the safety, well-being, understanding and emancipation of female athletes
in an environment free from fear and abuse.