Share this
Mister Wong
Digg
Del.icio.us
Slashdot
Furl
Yahoo
Technorati
Newsvine
Googlize this
Blinklist
Facebook
Wikio
Hear this text
Print
E-mail
Tags
The bigger questions
The exposed lies of Leonard Chuene, boss of Athletics South Africa (ASA), not only cast a shadow over the quality of leadership in South African sport, but also diminished the standing of South African sport internationally. While all the questions about Caster Semenya's specific situation have long not been answered, they have brought more fundamentals to the fore. For one, why do administrators have so much power over the lives of individual athletes?
It has also exposed the need and importance of structured and muscled player representation via an own professional body.
Chuene bore the brunt of criticism over the past few days after owning up to the fact that he lied to and/or misled just about everybody. It seems unlikely that the full story of all the motives behind the way in which the entire affair has been managed or mismanaged, has completely been exposed to date.
What still begs explanation, for example, is why ASA fired Semenya's Finnish agent Jakku Härkönen, and took over his public relations role that includes marketing the athlete to the corporate world.
"We fired Härkönen in Berlin and I will be managing Caster until she gets a local agent to look after her affairs," said ASA events manager, Phiwe Mlangeni-Tsholetsane. (Mail & Guardian, 19 to 23 September).
"We have difficulties in dealing with our athletes who are managed from outside, especially by Härkönen," she said.
Besides the suspect timing of and vague reasons given for this step, the broader question is: Why do sport bodies wield the sort of power that ASA has in terms of hiring and firing agents?
Which poses another question: Why are the interests and affairs of players not protected better through a players association that could call for players' action when abuse and mismanagement - of the grand scale to which Semenya was subjected - takes place?
Stated differently: How much money has Semenya sacrificed by not being allowed to participate in major championships after the World Championships because of the sloppy mismanagement of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the media leak exposing the gender test, and because of ASA's inability to communicate with the IAAF on the issue?
A players association would have protected Semenya's right to privacy, as well as the right to her own agent, and would not have allowed ASA to hire and fire in the manner in which they disposed of Härkönen.
A balance of power is also required for when a players association wielding too much power, as in the case of cricket's West Indian Players' Association, causes a semi-permanent standoff between the mother body and a lesser association - with the players refusing to even take the field.
Would Semenya be barred from competition if she is deemed to be a hermaphrodite? A court case is not entirely out of the question simply because of the fact that the decision taken by the so-called jury or panel on her status is ultimately a consensus decision that could be challenged by the European Court of Arbitration of Sport.
It is clear that penetrating discussions are needed to asses, at a fundamental level, the structures in place to manage sport - all sport - in South Africa. At international level, no sport can still be regarded as anything other than professional.
It is clear that the days of the all-powerful administrator/politician-type management is gone forever. It needs to be replaced with a fully and truly professional structure with the accountability that goes with that.
She is not a special case.There are so many people who have the same issues as her but I dont see their sexual differences being exposed like this.Now one should wonder if they are doing this because a GOLD WAS WON BY A BLACK GIRL FROM RURAL AREAS!!
Leave the lady alone and let her be!!