SEA Games: Gender test of Indonesian female volleyball player rejected


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That’s not the way to behave in front of a lady. 

Indonesian volleyball player Aprilia Manganang, 23, faced boos from the crowd this afternoon as her team beat rival Philippines 25-22, 25-20, 25-14 at the SEA Games in Singapore.

Yesterday, the Philippine team coach Roger Gorayeb had singled out the player because of her appearance and manly physique and demanded that game organisers carry out a gender test on her.

This request was rejected by organising committee SINGSOC after a review of documents by medical experts.

“SINGSOC has been informed by the South East Asian Games Federation medical committee that they have reviewed the documents submitted by the Indonesian volleyball team and that the appeal has since been rejected,” a statement said.

The Philippines is not the first country to make this unusual request.

Manganang has also been challenged in Indonesia in 2011. In 2013, some Indonesian teams even threatened to walk out of a competition because they didn’t want to face her team, Alko Bandung, arguing that even though she’s female, her hormonal make up was “60% male” so it was unfair for her to compete in the tournament.

But really, it takes more than one player to make a team win (or lose), so get over it? With reports from AFP.




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