bangalore eight months after tests to determine female hyperandrogenism increased production of male hormones were introduced at the london olympics indias sports ministry has announced procedures to identify circumstances in which an athlete will not be eligible to participate in the womens categorythe procedure was first jointly announced by the international olympic committee and international association of athletics federations iaaf after their medical experts recommended that female athletes who may derive a competitive advantage in sports thanks to high levels of testosterone produced by their bodies should be made ineligible to compete in the womens category the ministry has borrowed heavily from this manualsouth african 800m runner caster semenya whose gender was questioned after she won the 2009 world championships in berlin forced an international study on gender tests after she was subjected to one which became a public debate and was banned from competition until 2010indian athletes santhi soundarajan who was stripped of her 800m silver medal at the 2006 doha asian games and pinki pramanik also found themselves in the eye of a gender stormthe new regulations arent termed as sex verification tests as they do not intrude into an athletes privacy gender tests were done away with in 1999 much like ioc the ministry is particularly concerned when human anatomy is mixedintersex female athletes with elevated androgen production give rise to concern in the context of competitive sports which is referred to as female hyperandrogenism androgenic hormones have performanceenhancing effects particularly on strength speed and power which may provide a competitive advantage in sports it sayssports authority of india and the national sports federations will designate a nodal officer and an alternate nodal officer each only women to deal with the matter medical examination can be carried out at any level of competitionthe right to seek an investigation lies with the sportsperson herself who is concerned about personal symptoms of hyperandrogenism the medical officer of sai or the nsf who may have a doubt about a sportsperson or have been given a written complaint in all cases the reasons for seeking a review have to be accompanied with reports of medical examination and other documents complainants will have to identify themselvesin case the serum testosterone level is higher than 2ngml in a female athlete the matter should be referred to a medical panel constituted by sai examination by female experts may be followed by a final intervention by aiims in case results of the previous tests are inconclusive if declared ineligible to compete in the female category the sportsperson can compete among males the ministry sayshowever it does not specify whether the athlete can return to compete in the female category after undergoing treatment for her medical conditionfastfacts following a complaintroutine medical examination to be carried out by a female doctor will include external genital examination if genital examination results are ambiguous other tests would be required in cases of ambiguous genitalia the athletes serum testosterone level should be measured at national dope