Sawt Falasteen - French women's boxing team barred from world champs over late gender test results

World Boxing said last month women wanting to compete in the event in Liverpool that starts on Thursday would have to undergo mandatory genetic sex testing under its new policy.

Such tests have been banned in France since a law was passed in 1994, save under strict conditions, so the French federation had to wait till they reached England in order to proceed with them.

The five-member team underwent testing in a World Boxing-accredited laboratory with the understanding, FFBoxe said, that the results would be available before the deadline.

"We are sorry some boxers did not meet the deadline for results of testing but the rules and deadlines were published," a World Boxing official told AFP.

Nevertheless FFBoxe was seething over the decision.

"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," it said in a statement.

"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."

- 'Arbitrary decision' -

Maelys Richol, one of the five boxers affected, said she felt "frustration, anger and disappointment".

"After an entire year of work we find ourselves thrown out not for sporting reasons but because of disastrous and unfair management," said Richol, who was to compete in the -65 category. "It is extremely tough to absorb."

Under World Boxing's policy, fighters over 18 who want to participate in their competitions need to take a PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, genetic test.

Boxing has been rocked by organisational problems in recent years.

World Boxing have been mandated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with organising the sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

In late May, World Boxing announced they were introducing mandatory gender testing to determine the eligibility of male and female athletes wanting to take part in its competitions.

It has become a major issue in boxing since the Paris Olympics last year when Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting were at the centre of a gender row.

Lin and Khelif were excluded from the International Boxing Association's (IBA) 2023 world championships after the IBA said they had failed eligibility tests.

However, the IOC allowed them both to compete in Paris, saying they had been victims of "a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA". Both went on to win gold medals.

Khelif has turned to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, to challenge World Boxing's introduction of the genetic sex test.

Neither boxer is competing in Liverpool.

Khelif and Lin were subjected to attacks on social media, rumours about their biological sex and disinformation during the Paris Games.

The IOC leaped to their defence, saying they were born and raised as women, and have passports attesting to that.

The debate about eligibility in women's sports categories has not just affected boxing but has also affected athletics and swimming.

T.Samara--SF-PST