Doctor's emails counter ASA's claims
A series of "smoking gun" emails are believed to be behind athletics boss Leonard Chuene's bid to distance himself from the doctor who allegedly oversaw sex testing on athlete Caster Semenya.
The emails contain formal communication between the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and South Africa's team doctor, Harold Adams, dating from early in August.
And they could prove devastating to Athletics South Africa head Chuene's claims that they were in the dark about the IAAF sex tests, which he said she was duped into undergoing in Berlin.
Adams, who advised ASA that Semenya should not take to the track in Berlin, has yet to break his silence on his role in the debacle - which could be damaging to his career and status as one of President Jacob Zuma's doctors.
It is, however, understood Adams contacted the office of IAAF president Lamine Diack at the weekend.
Meanwhile, Chuene has done everything he can to downplay Adams's involvement with ASA.
In response to questions about why he had not heeded the doctor's advice, he said: "By the way, Dr Harold Adams is an IAAF medical commission member and not part of the ASA medical team, so there was no basis for me to do that.
"I simply refused to withdraw her based on rumours. We were not given anything in black and white. The IAAF constitution also did not make provision for that. At that stage we did not even know about the alleged gender tests we read about in the media that were conducted on Mokgadi (Caster)."
Earlier, he said Adams had told him the medical commission of the IAAF had advised them to withdraw Semenya solely on the basis that they had conducted sex tests on her.
According to Chuene: "After I challenged th IAAF to give me proof that they had informed us about the tests, they argued that they had told Dr Adams. But I told them he was not a member of ASA. I have now asked for a thorough report detailing everything so that we can probe it."
Chuene's repeated attempts to distance ASA from Adams fly in the face of ASA's own website, which lists Adams as SA's team doctor and president of Boland Athletics. He was also formerly an ASA director.
Semenya's former coach, Wilfred Daniels, maintains ASA general manager Molatelo Malehopo authorised sex testing before Semenya went to Berlin. He also claims ASA deputy president Kakata Maponyane accompanied Semenya when she was tested in Berlin in August.