Nilla Fischer: “Forced to show genitals at the 2011 World Cup”

On her Instagram profile she defines herself: “A feminist”. But Nilla Fischer was a difficult central defender to deal with on the pitch. You have an imposing physique, 176 cm tall, you have worn the shirts of Malmoe, Linkoping, Wolfsburg with which you have won two Swedish championships, two German championships, one Women’s Champions League. And she collected something like 1994 appearances with her Sweden and snatched an Olympic silver in Rio 2016. In short, Fischer was until December 2022 (when she retired), an appreciated and successful footballer. Her numbers prove it. And it is also for this reason that her statements in her book “I Didn’t Even Say Half Of It” cause discussion. Very.

World Cup 2001

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It was 2011. And the Women’s World Cup was taking place in Germany. An edition marked by controversy. Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana had complained to Fifa days earlier over the presence of men in the Equatorial Guinea team. And then here is the shocking revelation made by Nilla: “We had to show our genitals to the doctor – wrote the former champion in her book – we were told that we shouldn’t have to shave to show what gender we were”. Fisher then described the process, conducted by a female physical therapist on behalf of the doctor, as humiliating.

the story

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“None of us understands the issue of hair removal – continues Fischer -, but we do what we are told and think ‘How did it come to this?. Why do we have to do it now?’. There must be other ways to do it. Should we refuse? At the same time, nobody wants to jeopardize the opportunity to play in a World Cup. So, no matter how bad it feels.” In an interview with Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, Fischer went into detail. And here is his story: “I understand what I have to do and quickly pull down my training pants and underwear at the same time. The physical therapist nods and says ‘yes’, then looks at the doctor who has his back to my door. He takes note and she moves down the corridor to knock on the next door. When all the players on the team were ‘checked’, the doctor was then able to sign the document certifying that the Sweden women’s national football team was made up only of women.”

the norms

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Two weeks before the start of the 2011 World Cup, FIFA had issued its current gender recognition policies, which require teams to sign a declaration guaranteeing that players chosen for the World Cup are “gender appropriate”. . Those rules state that: “It is the responsibility of each federation to ensure the correct gender of all players by actively investigating any perceived deviations in secondary gender characteristics.” Now, it’s unclear why Swedish female players in 2011 weren’t given a buccal swab test — a cheap and non-intrusive way to collect DNA from cells inside the cheek and determine a person’s sex. Mats Börjesson, the Swedish national team doctor in 2011, said the tests had been carried out after FIFA requested immediate checks due to rumors circulating about the Equatorial Guinea team. Fifa, for now, has taken note of Nilla Fischer’s statements. Without going into the merits of the story.