Athletics South Africa (ASA) has issued a formal apology to women's 800m world champion Caster Semenya for its handling of her gender verification tests.

"Athletics South Africa wishes to publicly and unconditionally apologize to Caster Semenya and her family, the president of South Africa as well as to all South Africans for the handling of her gender verification processes and the subsequent aftermath," ASA said yesterday.

"ASA's board will lead a delegation to meet Caster, her family and the government for discussions on the matter," it said.

The apology comes in the wake of an African National Congress (ANC) statement last month which said it thought the ASA and its doctor had a case to answer.

"They could have handled the matter better. They could have taken the leadership of the country into confidence and avoided lying with regard to their role in this saga," the ANC said.

Semenya, 18, destroyed the field to take the world title in Berlin in August in the fastest time of the year.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) had already begun a gender verification process before the race but Semenya was allowed to compete pending the outcome of the tests. No decision on the tests is expected until later this month but the IAAF has declined to comment on a report in Australia's Daily Telegraph in September which said Semenya had male and female sexual characteristics.

The IAAF's decision to test Semenya angered many South Africans with some accusing the sport's governing body of racism.