The players were forced to show their genitals at the 2011 World Cup to prove they were women
FIFA forced players of all teams to undergo genital examination at the 2011 World Cup to prove they were women, former Sweden international Nilla Fischer has denounced in her recently published biography.
In Jag sa inte ens hälften (I didn't say the half), Fischer said FIFA ordered the players to undergo such a test after rumors surfaced that there were men on the Equatorial Guinea squad at Germany 2011.
“When I heard about the surprising requirement, I fumed. In the middle of a World Cup, the big shots of FIFA want us to show our genitals. They told us not to shave 'down there' for the next few days and then to show it to the doctor. No one understands it, but we do what we're told and ask ourselves what's going on,” Fischer writes.
“Nasty” and “humiliating”
The exam was carried out by a physiotherapist, while the doctor stood on his back, according to the former player, who describes the experience, which was never repeated, as “unpleasant” and “humiliating”.
“The way it was done was excessive. I think that was why none of the players have told it so far. We realized that it would only be talked about. As I write in the book, it was not pleasant at all,” Fischer told Swedish media.
The then doctor of the Swedish women's team, Mats Börjesson, confirmed what happened, although he assures that it was done before the World Cup and that there was no malicious intent.
“FIFA does not do it in bad faith”
“FIFA does not do these things in bad faith. The sport has tried to do justice to the girls, so that it is not necessary to train for a lifetime and then you find yourself with something that is an absurd advantage,” Börjesson told the Aftonbladet newspaper, referring to the possible inclusion of camouflaged men in women's teams. .
Fischer, 38, was capped 194 times with the Swedish team between 2001 and 2022 and participated in four World Cups and three Olympic Games.