The problem of drugs has long been afflicting society. Sport has not been spared either as it has also been badly affected by those who resort to performance-enhancing substances. This has denuded it of much of its beauty and element of fair play.
As if this were not enough, we now have to contend with another problem that could also tamper with the credibility of human activity, again including sport. It concerns the issue of identifying the sex of the athlete in order to establish the gender for the purpose of competition.
Not that this was unheard of because, in the past, Russian, Polish and American women athletes, among others, were found to have had abnormal levels of testosterone to qualify as females. For many years now, this problem of sex distinction has also spilled over to social levels with attendant consequences for the individuals concerned.
The case of Caster Semenya, the South African who recently won the 800 metres women's race at the Berlin World Championships by a wide margin, may have been sensationalised by the media and over-exposed by many who had some sort of stake in the whole affair to the point of embarrassment for the athlete.
Declarations well in advance of what would have been normally expected by the world athletics body, the IAAF, that the runner will have to undergo gender tests raised questions about proper ethical behaviour by all those involved in the whole affair. Where does one start and end in similar circumstances both on a social and sports level? Safeguarding human rights also enters the frame.
Now, many would probably think that determining one's sex is as simple as looking at a person's external genitalia. In effect, it is a much more complex exercise that demands chromosomal and hormonal tests by specialists, including gynaecologists and doctors well steeped in internal medicine, as well as other experts on gender and psychology.
The hormone levels and the chromosomal make-up of the individual will have to be thoroughly tested before gender can be established. These include variations of levels and conditions of hormones.
No one will deny that this is an extremely complicated area requiring refined tests that take some time before the doctors can definitely establish the gender of the individual.
There are other grey areas that add to the complexity of the whole issue. In this context, one can ask to what extent will the IAAF accept that some conditions may give an advantage to female athletes but nevertheless recognise them as being bona fide females.
In the final reckoning, it will mostly depend on levels of hormones because this accounts for the difference in strength between males and females. Neither can one exclude the levels of testosterone, which are more likely to give muscle strength if they are high.
Moreover, the complexity of sexual development disorder is compounded by genetic variations of these oddities around the world. And that makes it even more difficult for the civil and sports authorities to establish norms when declaring the gender of the individual.
Meanwhile, the IAAF knows that it may be some more days before the Semenya case is resolved. Until it is, there will be more conjecturing, especially to the detriment of the 18-year-old athlete from South Africa.
Indeed, this is a very delicate issue that has to do with ethics of a social nature as much as those concerning sports.