World Boxing makes gender tests mandatory to participate in his competitions – Liberation
Imane khelif Not finished with the obstacles that stop his boxing career. The Olympic champion, the subject of attacks on her supposed genre at the Paris Games, now faces a new World Boxing regulations. The young international federation, which will organize the Olympic boxing tournament at 2028 OJannounced this Friday, May 30, that all of its licensees should undergo a PCR test establishing its gender if they wish to participate in its competitions.
In its press release, the federation directly quoted the 26 -year -old Algerian boxer, gold medalist at the 2024 Olympic Games and victim of a cyberbully campaign emanating from backgrounds close to the extreme right and ideology openly transphobicbelieving that the sportswoman would be either a trans person or a man. Among the standard bearers of this foul-smelling campaign: Donald Trump, Elon Musk or the author of Harry Potter JK Rowling. This even though the International Olympic Committee (CIO) assured that the athlete respected the eligibility and medical rules.
Giving the feeling of yielding to controversies, World Boxing explains in a press release that it made this decision to answer the « Concerns about the security and well-being of all boxers, including Imane Khelif ». In the future, therefore, all athletes over 18 who wish to participate in a competition organized or sanctioned by World Boxing will have to undergo a PCR genetic test in order to determine their sex at birth and their eligibility to compete, adds the body. World Boxing adds that it has informed the Algerian boxing federation that Khelif should submit to a gender test if it wanted to participate in the Eindhoven box Cup in the Netherlands, from June 5 to 10.
World Boxing’s policy is its « Final development stage » and was developed by a working group « Who examined data and medical evidence from a wide range of sources and has largely consulted other sports and experts around the world »argues the body, which ensures respect « The dignity of all individuals » Everything wanted to prioritize « The security and equity of competitions for all athletes ». Which therefore leads her to want to organize only « Competitions that for athletes classified as men or women ». And World Boxing to exemplify: « The athletes considered to be female at birth, in the presence of XX chromosomes or in the absence of the SRY gene, or in the event of DSD without male androgenization, will be eligible for the female category. » This in fact excludes trans athletes from categories other than that of their birth sex.
The national federations will be responsible for the tests and will have to confirm the gender of their athletes when registering for competitions by producing a certification of their chromosomal sex, determined by a PCR test. A laboratory technique used to detect genetic specificities, in this case the SRY gene, which reveals the presence of the Y chromosome, indicator of biological sex. The test can be carried out by a nasal or oral sampling, or a sample of saliva or blood.
Imane Khelif and the Taiwanese Lin Yu-Ting, also wrongly accused of being a transgender athlete, had been prohibited from participating in the 2012 Worlds by the International Boxing Federation (IBA), itself dismissed by the IOC for reasons related to finance, ethics and governance of this organization chaired by Russian Umar Kremlev. At the Paris Olympic Games, when the controversy was probably at her peak, Imane Khelif had imposed herself in the final of -66 kg in a room acquired in her cause. An investigation had then been opened by the national pole to combat hatred online for « Cyberharity because of the gender, public insult because of the gender, public provocation for discrimination and public insult because of the origin ».
