Ex-captain of Sweden reports
Female footballers probably had to bare themselves before the World Cup
06/13/2023, 11:15 am
Before the 2011 Women’s World Cup, there is a “humiliating” procedure: Because there are suspected cases in another team, the Swedish players have to prove that they are women. By examining their bodies.
Before the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany, players from Sweden are said to have had to expose themselves in a gender test. During the physical examination, it should be checked whether all footballers are actually women, reports former Swedish international Nilla Fischer, according to the British “Guardian”. The report is based on revelations from the 38-year-old’s biography, which was published last Friday.
As she writes in her book “Jag sa inte ens halves” (“I didn’t even say half”), from which the English “Guardian” quotes, she had to undress in front of a physiotherapist who had been hired by a doctor . She experienced the whole process as “humiliating”. The gender tests were carried out because, before the World Cup, several nations had alleged that men were also playing in the Equatorial Guinea team. As a result, the world football association FIFA initiated controls.
The Guardian also reports that FIFA has taken note of Nilla Fischer’s recent comments regarding her experience and the gender verification tests conducted by the Swedish national team at the 2011 Women’s World Cup.
The then Swedish team doctor, Mats Börjesson, confirmed the controls to the Swedish newspaper “Aftonbladet”. He considered the purpose of the investigations to be justifiable. FIFA doesn’t do this to want to be mean to anyone. Fischer played a total of 189 senior internationals for Sweden between 2001 and 2022. From 2013 to 2019 she was under contract with VfL Wolfsburg.