Imane Khelif will miss the Eindhoven Box Cup – just days after World Boxing introduced mandatory sex testing.
The Algerian, who was at the heart of a gender row at the Paris Olympics alongside Thailand’s Lin Yu-ting, has missed the registration deadline.
Olympic chiefs were satisfied to let athletes compete based on the sex stated on their passport but World Boxing has introduced more exacting measures in recent days.
Their new policy requires all athletes over the age of 18 to undergo a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) genetic test to determine their sex at birth and their eligibility to compete.
Eindhoven Box Cup media director Dirk Renders said: ‘The decision of Imane’s exclusion is not ours. We regret it.’
Mayor of Eindhoven Joren Dijsselbloem opposes World Boxing’s ruling and recently wrote in a letter to them and the International Boxing Federation: ‘As far as we are concerned, all athletes are welcome in Eindhoven.
‘Excluding athletes based on controversial ‘gender tests’ certainly does not fit in with that.
‘We are expressing our disapproval of this decision today and are calling on the organization to admit Imane Khelif after all.’
Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships by the International Boxing Association – the previous world governing body – for allegedly failing elgibility tests.
More to follow.
