CHENNAI: If the Paris Olympic Games were to be held this summer, then Imane Khelif might not have competed. The World Boxing (WB) has now come out with a contentious decision on "mandatory sex testing". All boxers, including Khelif, will have to undergo the test. The WB is right now the International Olympic Committee-recognised body and crossed the 100-national federation mark recently. This is not the first time she would be ineligible, the boxer was banned by the now-defunct International Boxing Association during the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi.
The WB said in a late night statement that it would "introduce mandatory sex testing, to determine the eligibility of male and female athletes that want to take part in its competitions."
Gender issues overshadowed the Paris Olympic Games, at least towards the last few days. The Paris Boxing Unit was in charge of conducting the event in the absence of a IOC-recognised body. As is usually the case, boxing without controversy seems like a pipedream. The crisis this time was not so much about refereeing but a decision that did not go down too well with quite a few national boxing federations and it was related to gender. Two boxers – Khelif of Algeria and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting — were the centre of attention then. Italy's Angela Carini withdrew merely 46 seconds into the first bout against Khelif, because of the pain she felt from those opening punches. The IOC had said in a statement then that the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport and she was a born female. Despite the noise, Khelif had gone on to capture the gold medal then.
The WB has also written to the Algerian Boxing Federation of their decision and informed them that Khelif will not be eligible to fight any of the WB events until she undergoes sex testing. "Imane Khelif may not participate in the female category at the Eindhoven Box Cup, 5-10 June 2025 and any World Boxing event until Khelif undergoes genetic sex test..."
The WB were mere spectators trying to garner as many votes as possible from NSFs in Paris last year. Yet, WB chief Boris van de Vorst had told this newspaper then that they would task their medical commission to further investigate and study this before making a policy.
On Friday, the WB said in a statement that the policy is in the final stages of development. It has been "crafted by a specially convened Working Group of the World Boxing Medical and Anti-Doping Committee, which has examined data and medical evidence from an extensive range of sources and consulted widely with other sports and experts across the world".
The WB Executive Board, which has the right to formally endorse new competition rules under special and emergency circumstances, has exercised its rights to add this new provision.
In the letter to the Algerian federation, the WB said, "Please be advised that, per World Boxing policy, "...in the event the athlete's sex certification is challenged by the athlete's federation or by World Boxing, the athlete (Khelif) shall be ineligible to compete until the dispute is resolved..."
What the WB has said...
All athletes over the age of 18 that want to participate in a World Boxing-owned or sanctioned competition will need to undergo a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) genetic test to determine their sex at birth and their eligibility to compete
The PCR test is a laboratory technique used to detect specific genetic material, in this case the SRY gene, that reveals the presence of the Y chromosome, which is an indicator of biological sex. The test can be a be conducted by nasal/mouth swab, saliva or blood
Athletes that are deemed to be female at birth, as evidenced by the presence of XX chromosomes or the absence of Y chromosome genetic material (the SRY gene) or with a DSD where male androgenization does not occur, will be eligible to compete in the female category
