Imane Khelif Appeals World Boxing Decision on Sex Tests
Olympic champion Imane Khelif has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) following World Boxing’s decision to prevent her from participating in future events unless she undergoes genetic sex testing.
The CAS reported this Monday that the Algerian boxer filed the appeal last month.
Khelif sought to compete in the world boxing championships, which begin this Thursday, but the CAS rejected a request to suspend World Boxing’s decision until the case was resolved.
Khelif won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics last year, amid international scrutiny of her and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, another gold medalist.
The previous governing body for Olympic boxing, the Russia-dominated International Boxing Association, disqualified both boxers from its 2023 world championships after claiming they failed unspecified eligibility tests.
However, the IBA was banished due to decades of irregularities and controversies. The IOC directed the previous two Olympic boxing tournaments instead, and applied the sexual eligibility rules used in the previous Olympic Games. Under those standards, Khelif and Lin were eligible to compete.
World Boxing has been provisionally approved as a boxing organizer at the Los Angeles 2028 Games and has faced pressure from boxers and their federations to create sexual eligibility standards.
In May, the governing body announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes and specifically mentioned Khelif when announcing the policy, something for which it later apologized.
Khelif plans to defend his welterweight gold medal at the Los Angeles Games. The new IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, has initiated a working group to analyze gender eligibility issues.
