The India Connection Of 'Gender Row' In Paris 2024 Olympics

The Algerian and Taiwanese boxers embroiled in a row over their gender at the Paris Olympics were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships after a sex chromosome test ruled both of them ineligible, the International Boxing Association said on Monday (5 August).

The participation of Algeria's Imane Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, both allegedly 'biological males', at the Olympics sparked controversy when Khelif's Italian opponent withdrew from their fight within a minute after taking a barrage of punches.

Boxing at Paris 2024 is being conducted under the rules of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has stripped the IBA of its status as the global governing body for the sport.

IBA CEO Chris Roberts stated that the results of the gender eligibility tests could not be disclosed, but the disqualification of the two boxers from the 2023 Women's World Championships implied the findings.

"The results of the chromosome tests demonstrated both boxers were ineligible," Roberts told reporters.

He said the results of the tests had been sent to the IOC in June last year and that it had done "nothing with it".

In a statement, the IBA said that after many complaints from several coaches, the two controversial boxers agreed to gender testing.

"Blood sample collection was made on 17 May 2022. Sistem Tip Laboratory from Istanbul (License Number: 194-MRK) issued its report on 24 May 2022," the IBA said.

"The laboratory detected results that didn’t match the eligibility criteria for IBA women’s events," it added.

The boxing body said that its lawyers recommended monitoring the situation and contacting the IOC because a single test per athlete wasn't sufficient to make a conclusive decision due to the possibility of errors.

"IBA informed the IOC representatives about these tests, but no reaction followed from the IOC side," it said.

The situation was unprecedented in boxing.

After numerous consultations, the IBA decided to conduct a second test before disqualifying the boxers.

However, this second test had to be carried out in a neutral country and during the IBA competition period.

At the next IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships 2023 in New Delhi, Khelif and Lin consented to be tested again before their first fights.

Blood samples of the two boxers were collected on 17 March 2023.

and Dr Lal PathLabs from New Delhi issued its report on 23 March 2023, showing identical results to the first test.

"Blood sample collection was made on 17 March 2023. Dr Lal PathLabs from New Delhi issued its report on 23 March 2023. The findings were absolutely identical to the first test results," the IBA said.

After the tests in India confirmed the earlier findings, both Khelif and Lin were disqualified from the Championships for not meeting the IBA eligibility criteria.

However, the IOC has said that the IBA is a discredited organisation and the tests were ordered on arbitrary grounds.

"We are talking about women's boxing. We have two boxers who were born as women, raised as women, who have passports as women and who have competed for many years as women and this is a clear definition of a woman," IOC President Thomas Bach told a press conference on Saturday, Reuters reported.

"There was never any doubt about them being women," Bach added.

The controversy has taken social media by storm, with notable figures like J K Rowling and Tesla founder Elon Musk expressing their opposition to the boxers' participation in the Games.

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