Boxing chiefs vow to learn lessons after World Championships sex test row
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Imane Khelif of Algeria has turned to sport’s top court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, to challenge World Boxing’s gender testing policy.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LIVERPOOL – Boxing chiefs on Sept 5 pledged to redouble efforts to get their message across about newly introduced genetic sex tests, after a row overshadowed the start of the World Championships.
Twelve boxers have reportedly been barred from competing in England, including the five-member women’s team from France, after they missed the deadline for test results to be submitted.
The BBC reported that another seven athletes, from the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Nigeria and the Philippines, were unable to compete.
World Boxing blamed the national federations, saying they were given ample warning of the new policy, which was announced in May.
But acting secretary-general Mike McAtee, speaking to AFP in Liverpool on Sept 5, the second day of the championships, struck a more conciliatory tone.
“Anything medical takes time,” he said.
However, the American also insisted World Boxing had communicated its new policy to officials at many levels, aware that many federations had staffing challenges.
World Boxing was granted provisional recognition as the international federation governing the sport within the Olympic movement only in February.
“We need to see how we can perform better, not only on eligibility, but everything else,” added McAtee. “We’re an old sport in a very young body.
“So how do we make ourselves better, and how can we support? We have members like GB Boxing, England, Scotland, Wales, that have funding and are able to do it.
“And then we have other national federations that just don’t have the funding. So we need to be able to do better in support of our members.”
McAtee also said that in future World Boxing would consider going straight to athletes over the testing requirements.
“Maybe we should also start contacting the boxers and say, ‘Hey, remind your coaches, your team managers, your administrators’.”
Under World Boxing’s policy, fighters over 18 who want to participate in the women’s category need to take a one-off PCR (polymerase chain reaction) or medical equivalent genetic test.
It follows a gender row involving Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The two athletes had been excluded from the International Boxing Association’s (IBA’s) 2023 World Championships after that organisation said they had failed eligibility tests.
However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which stepped in to oversee boxing at the Paris Games, allowed them both to compete and they went on to win gold medals.
Neither Khelif nor Lin are boxing in Liverpool, where boxers were reluctant to address the issue.
The Taiwanese boxing association said she would not be competing despite reportedly submitting her test results.
Khelif has turned to sport’s top court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, to challenge World Boxing’s gender testing policy. AFP
