Olympic champion Imane Khelif will be missing as a participant in a tournament in Eindhoven. A few days ago, the World Association decided to introduce mandatory sex tests.
Dirk Renders, spokesman for the Eindhoven Box Cup, confirmed on Thursday of the AFP news agency, which Khelif will not be there. “The decision on your exclusion lies at World Boxing”said Renders.
At the end of May, the new World Association in amateur boxes recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had introduced the gender tests in order to examine the suitability of male and female athletes for his competitions. At the Olympic Games, the participation of the Algerian boxer Khelif caused heated discussions.
Test should prove gender
In the run -up to the event in the Netherlands, World Boxing had now told the Algerian Association that Khelif had to undergo the test if she wanted to take part in the tournament in Eindhoven (until June 10). The proposed PCR test is a laboratory process for detection specific genetic material, in this case of the Sry gene. This indicates the presence of the Y chromosome, which serves as an indicator of the biological gender.
The national associations are responsible for the tests and must confirm the gender of their athletes (from 18 years) when registering for World Boxing competitions by submitting a certificate of the chromosomal gender determined by a PCR test.
Khelif and Lin Yuting from Taiwan had been excluded by the IBA at the 2023 World Cup because they supposedly failed a testosterone test. In Paris, however, they were allowed to start because the gender in the pass was decisive for the IOC alone. Like Lin, Khelif won the gold medal in her weight class – accompanied by attacks and a disinformation campaign of conservative circles, which she as a “man who fights women”.