The International Boxing Association (IBA) is clarifying its reasons for disqualifying the two boxers now competing at the Olympics in the wake of the growing controversy over the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to allow them to fight in this year’s Paris Games.
The IOC has excused its decision to allow the controversial boxers to fight, claiming that they accepted Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting and Algerian Imane Khelif under the IBA’s 2016 rules, which then allowed the pair to fight under IBA purview. However, the IBA changed its rules in 2022, and since then, both boxers have been disqualified from participating in IBA-sanctioned events.
IBA President Umar Kremlev explained the decision at the time, according to Russia’s Tass News Agency, as cited by Fox.
“Based on DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to trick their colleagues into posing as women. According to the results of the tests, it was proved that they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from competition,” Kremlev said.
The IOC proclaimed that since both Yu-ting and Khelif claim to be women, that is all the IOC needs to permit their competition in the women’s categories. But since that time, Khelif has appeared for the first bout in the women’s category in Paris against Italian boxer Angela Carini and forced the Italian to forfeit the match only 46 seconds in.
Carini has since said she gave up so quickly because “I have never been hit so hard in my life.”
Now, the IBA is jumping in to explain why Yu-ting and Khelif were disqualified from recently sanctioned women’s bouts in 2023.
“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 organization said in its press release.
The organization added that neither boxer took a testosterone test but instead “were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential.”
The IBA added, “This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors.”
The group continued noting that Lin Yu-ting did not appeal the disqualification, “thus rendering the decision legally binding.” While Khelif did appeal, that case was dropped before concluding, and the decision was “legally binding.”
“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,” the IBA wrote.
In conclusion, the organization urged people to focus their questions about these fighters on the Olympics, not the IBA.
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