Controversial Champ Excluded from Tournament Following Boxing Federation's New Gender Tests
Player absent from competition due to implementation of gender verification tests
In the buzzing world of sports, the 2024 Olympics in Paris ignited a firestorm when Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, a target of conservative attacks due to claims she's a man, won gold – only to be sidelined from a tournament later. Here's what went down.
Controversy swirled around Khelif at the Olympics, but that wasn't the end of it. A few days after World Boxing introduced mandatory gender tests in May, she was a no-show at a tournament in the Netherlands. Dirk Renders, Eindhoven Box Cup spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the decision to exclude Khelif was made by World Boxing itself.
World Boxing's new regulation, aimed at assessing the eligibility of athletes, requires a laboratory procedure, the SRY gene PCR test, to identify the presence of the Y chromosome – a biological gender indicator. National federations must confirm their athletes' gender by submitting a chromosomal gender certificate when registering for World Boxing competitions.
Remember the IBA World Championships in 2023? Khelif and Lin Yuting (from Taiwan) were ousted for allegedly failing a testosterone test but were cleared by the IOC to compete in Paris. The IOC maintains that the gender stated in a passport is the sole determining factor for their competitions. Like Lin, Khelif bagged the gold medal in her weight class, only to face an onslaught of attacks by conservative circles labeling her "a man fighting against women."
While Khelif's exclusion from the tournament wasn't directly due to the new gender test regulations, her situation stemmed from the introduction of mandatory sex testing by the World Boxing Federation.
Fun fact: These tests are part of an ongoing debate about gender identity, competitiveness in sports, and the governance issues faced by federations like the International Boxing Association (IBA). Stay tuned as the world of sports continues to evolve and so does the narrative around gender testing and fairness in sports competitions.
Sources: ntv.de, sue/sid
- Boxing
- Controversial Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, gold medalist at the 2024 Olympics, was excluded from a tournament in the Netherlands due to new gender test regulations established by World Boxing.
- The IOC previously allowed Khelif to compete in Paris despite her disqualification from the IBA World Championships in 2023 due to unspecified eligibility issues surrounding gender testing.
- As part of an ongoing debate about gender identity and competitiveness in sports, World Boxing has introduced mandatory sex testing, requiring athletes to undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genetic test starting July 1, 2025, to determine their sex at birth.
- This move aims to ensure safety and competitive fairness in the sport, but Khelif's exclusion from the tournament is connected to the introduction of mandatory sex testing rather than a direct violation of the regulations themselves.
The ongoing debate about gender identity and sports competitiveness is highlighted by the case of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who won the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics but was excluded from a subsequent tournament due to new gender test regulations instituted by World Boxing. Previously, Khelif was allowed to compete in Paris despite being disqualified from the IBA World Championships in 2023 due to unspecified eligibility issues surrounding gender testing. Starting July 1, 2025, World Boxing will require athletes to undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genetic test to determine their sex at birth as part of its efforts to ensure safety and competitive fairness in the sport.
