The International Boxing Association (IBA) has decided to weigh in after a boxing match took place during the Olympics in Paris.
The controversy arose after female Italian boxer Angela Carini stopped her Olympic match against Algerian opponent Imane Khelif just 46 seconds into the match.
Khelif has been thrown out of the competition for failing testosterone tests, which are carried out to establish gender qualifications. The IBA also disqualified
The IOC is now facing incredible international blowback for allowing Khelif to enter the competition.
Now the IBA has weighed in and they are furious.
“On 24 March 2023, IBA disqualified athletes Lin Yu-ting and Imane Khelif from the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships New Delhi 2023. This disqualification was a result of their failure to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition, as set and laid out in the IBA Regulations. This decision, made after a meticulous review, was extremely important and necessary to uphold the level of fairness and utmost integrity of the competition,” the IBA wrote.
“Point to note, the athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential. This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors,” they added.
Imane Khelif did appeal the decision but withdrew “making the IBA decision legally binding.”
They weren’t done:
Our Committees have rigorously reviewed and endorsed the decision made during the World Championships. While IBA remains committed to ensuring competitive fairness in all of our events, we express concern over the inconsistent application of eligibility criteria by other sporting organizations, including those overseeing the Olympic Games. The IOC’s differing regulations on these matters, in which IBA is not involved, raise serious questions about both competitive fairness and athletes’ safety.
For clarification on why the IOC permits athletes with competitive advantages to compete in their events, we urge interested parties to seek answers directly from the IOC.
Yours sincerely,
International Boxing Association
There is some controversy surrounding Khelif about birth defects. However, the IBA did an intensive “confidential” investigation and disqualified Khelif.
What’s so bizarre about the incident is that supposedly, the International Olympic Committee was letting the governing bodies for individual sports make the decisions.
“This Framework recognizes both the need to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their gender identity or sex variations, can practice sport in a safe, harassment-free environment that recognizes and respects their needs and identities,” the committee said.
The big question is, if this was the rule, then why did the IOC make an exception for this?
You can read the full statement from the IBA here.
