A Nigerian boxer has become the latest athlete to be barred from the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool for missing the deadline for gender tests.
New rules in the sport mean there is strict gender testing involved for athletes in the fallout of the controversy surrounding Imane Khelif’s gold medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Blessing Oraekwe was set to participate in the 75kg category at the tournament, which started on Thursday, but has become one of 12 fighters across five nations to be stopped from competing.
‘I feel so sad,’ Oraekwe told BBC Sport. ‘It was heartbreaking for me because my plan was to come here and dominate in the ring and take the gold for my country. I know how I worked so hard for this.
‘And I know how hard it was for my country, and the Nigerian boxing federation, [who] gathered money for me, and the other boxers, to be here.’
Her exclusion follows the news that five French female boxers were also barred from competing after they failed to supply their tests in time.
Nigerian fighter, Blessing Oraekwe, is the latest boxer to have been barred from competing at the world championships for missing the deadline for gender testing
A dozen athletes have missed the deadline for gender tests as the world championships have been rocked in the fallout of the controversy surrounding Imane Khelif
The tests that are now in place have been banned in France since 1994. As a result, French female fighters at the Championship were unable to test before arriving in England.
The French Boxing Federation was left livid with the outcome and released a lengthy statement when learning of the outcome.
It read: ‘It is with stupefaction and indignation that the French team learned on Wednesday evening the French women’s boxing team would not be able to compete in the first World Championships organised by World Boxing.
‘Despite guarantees given to us by World Boxing, the laboratory which they recommended to us was not up to the task of delivering the results on time.
‘As a result, our athletes, as well as those from other countries, have been caught in this trap and excluded.’
However, World Boxing has refuted the claims of both Oraekwe and the French Boxing Federation, citing that they ‘made it clear’ that the responsibility of testing fell to the national federations.
A statement read: ‘Since World Boxing first announced its plan to introduce mandatory sex testing to determine the chromosomal sex of a male or female at birth, the organisation has made it clear that testing will be the responsibility of the national federations, as they have the closest links and most access to their boxes and are best placed to manage the testing process.
‘They also oversee the entree process for boxers, so they know which boxers need to be tested and when.
Five female French fighters have also been barred from competing because they missed the deadline
‘It is very disappointing for the boxers that some of the national federations have not been able to complete this process in time, which means that some athletes have not made it through the entry process for the World Boxing Championship.’
Oraekwe is said to have taken her test upon landing in the UK on Monday, but did not get her results until Thursday, according to Nigerian officials. By then, she had already been barred.
The 27-year-old has requested that World Boxing reimburse her governing body for their travel costs, seeing that she and two others are now in Liverpool but unable to compete.
‘They brought the tests late,’ Oraekwe continued. ‘All I want to say is for World Boxing to compensate us, because we have spent a lot.’
Meanwhile, Khelif has taken her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), in a bid to overturn the ban, and wants to be permitted to box without being tested.
In June, World Boxing unveiled a new policy of mandatory sex testing. Bosses were forced to apologise after naming Khelif, who won welterweight gold, in the announcement.
Khelif, from Algeria, filed the appeal earlier this month, and is seeking a reversal of World Boxing’s decision that stated she ‘was not allowed to participate in the Box Cup in Eindhoven, nor in any World Boxing event until she had undergone genetic sex testing’.
Earlier this week, however, CAS dismissed a request to suspend the execution of World Boxing’s decision until the case is heard and, as such, Khelif remains banned. Parties are currently exchanging written submissions with a hearing to be scheduled.
Testing was introduced after Khalif’s gold medal at the Paris Olympics last summer
Khelif, along with Taiwan fighter Lin Yu-ting, was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships by the previous governing body, the International Boxing Association. Both were alleged to have failed gender tests.
The pair were, however, cleared to box in Paris by the International Olympic Committee, which stripped the IBA of its status as governing body over concerns of corruption. Both boxers would go on to win gold in the female category.
The IOC said boxers were eligible for the women’s division simply if their passports stated that they were female.
