Sweden women's team were made to show genitalia in 'humiliating' WC gender test

Swedish football player Nilla Fischer has revealed that the women's national team were forced to strip and 'show their genitalia' for doctors to prove they were female at the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany.

'We were told that we should not shave ''down there'' in the coming days and that we will show our genitalia for the doctor,' Fischer wrote in her new book 'I Didn't Even Say Half Of It'.

'No one understands the thing about shaving but we do as we are told and think ''how did it get to this?'' Why are we forced to do this now, there has to be other ways to do this. Should we refuse?

'At the same time no one wants to jeopardise the opportunity to play at a World Cup. We just have to get the shit done no matter how sick and humiliating it feels.'

The Swedish centre-back who earned 194 caps for her country, opened up further on the experience in an interview with Sweden's Aftonbladet newspaper.

'I understand what I have to do and quickly pull down my training pants and underwear at the same time,' she said.

'The physio nods and says ''yup'' and then looks out at the doctor who is standing with his back to my doorway. He makes a note and moves on in the corridor to knock on the next door.

'When everyone on our team is checked, that is to say, has exposed their vagina, our team doctor can sign that the Swedish women's national football team consists only of women.'

Two weeks before the tournament got underway in Germany, FIFA released its updated gender recognition policies which remain in place today. The rules require that teams sign a declaration stating that all players involved in the tournament are of 'the appropriate gender'.

Inspections were enforced when Nigerian, Ghanaian and South African teams protested over speculation that some of the players fielded by Equatorial Guinea may have been male.

But it is unclear why the players were forced to show their genitalia, rather than submit a simple swab test for examination as is common practice.

Fischer said that having the examination conducted by team physios meant the players underwent the ordeal in a 'safe environment', but was clear that she was displeased with the way the situation was handled.

'We had a very safe environment in the team. So it was probably the best environment to do it in. But it's an extremely strange situation and overall not a comfortable way to do it.'

FIFA said it had 'taken note of recent comments made by Nilla Fischer around her experiences and gender verification testing conducted by the Swedish national team at the 2011 Women's World Cup' in response to Fischer's interview.

Meanwhile Mats Börjesson, the Swedish women's team doctor at the time of the 2011 World Cup, told Aftonbladet that although checks were not carried out under ideal circumstances, their purpose was justifiable.

'FIFA doesn't do this to be mean to anyone,' he said, adding that the checks were conducted as part of several measures to 'create fairness for girls so that they don't train their whole lives and then someone comes in with an unreasonable advantage'.

The revelation comes as former Arsenal player-turned-pundit Ian Wright hit out at European broadcasters for the lack of promotion around the Women's World Cup this year, which begins in just over a month in Australia.

Speaking in the latest episode of his podcast Wrighty's House to guests Musa Okwonga and Ryan Hunn, Wright said he was astonished that with just six weeks until the tournament begins, there's little promotion of it across Europe as broadcasters and FIFA have struggled to reach agreements on TV rights.

Wright said England's Lionesses, who held aloft the Euros trophy at Wembley in 2022 in front of 87,000 fans, had been denied sponsorship deals and a spotlight on their 'greatest moments'.

Last month, the government called on FIFA, BBC and ITV to reach a deal after fears of a UK TV blackout were raised.

Broadcast deals have still not yet been agreed for some of the biggest footballing countries ahead of the tournament.

In the passionate outburst, Wright said some football fans in the UK were unaware that the tournament was even happening because of the lack of publicity.

He said: 'Whatever's going on with the broadcasters and FIFA. They've got to sit down and resolve [it]. The Women's World Cup can't not be across Europe, man.

'How can we not be showing up? This would never happen in the men's game.

He continued: 'Look at the amount of opportunities that these girls probably missed out on in respect of sponsorship deals leading into it.

'It's not a good look. You walk down the street and people don't even know [it's happening].'