A 17-year-old Indonesian female gymnast was dropped from a multi-sport event at the last minute because she was “no longer a virgin,” her family said Friday.

Shalfa Avrila Sania was training hard and was due to leave for the 30th Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines on Nov 26. However, just a few days before the event, she was banned from the games by her coach. The girl’s family is outraged by the decision and has medical reports to prove that the girl’s hymen is still intact.

Speaking to Thomson Reuters Foundation, Ayu Kurniawati, the girl’s mother, said, “The coach said my daughter always goes out late with her male friends and their interrogation showed she was no longer a virgin. I was shocked. I want my daughter’s name cleared.”

This claim was, however, denied by Indonesia’s sports ministry who said Sania was dropped over disciplinary and performance issues. The Ministry’s spokesperson Gatot S. Dewa Broto said the girl’s coach could have made a mistake.

“We will take firm action if the athlete was sent back due to questions over her virginity because this is a matter of privacy, dignity and has nothing to do with performance,” Broto said in a statement.

Dismissing the claims of performance issues, the girl’s mother said her daughter took up the sport at the age of eight and has since won over 50 medals.

gymnast
Representational image of an athlete competing during the World Trampoline Gymnastics Championships at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo on December 1, 2019. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images
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