‘There has to be other ways to do this.’
Sweden women’s international Nilla Fischer revealed that she and her teammates were forced to strip and ‘show their genitalia’ for doctors to prove they were female before the 2011 World Cup in Germany.
Recalling the incident in her new book, ‘I Didn’t Even Say Half Of It’, Fischer said: “We were told that we should not shave ‘down there’ in the coming days and that we will show our genitalia for the doctor.
“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.”
Fischer, who earned almost 200 caps for her country, opened up on her experiences even more with local newspaper Aftonbladet.
“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.
“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.”
As per the Daily Mail, FIFA have reportedly notified Fischer’s recent comments ahead of the upcoming women’s World Cup, which gets underway in Australia next month.
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