Jun 05, 2025 12:52 PM IST
Imane Khelif’s case was specifically mentioned when World Boxing released the policy on sex testing.
World Boxing president Boris van der Vorst has apologised after Olympic champion Imane Khelif was signed out in an announcement made by the governing body to make sex testing mandatory. The decision comes after Khelif’s gold medal at the Paris Olympics last year, where there was controversy over her eligibility.
Khelif’s case was specifically mentioned when World Boxing released the policy. According to AP, the body’s president wrote to Algerian Boxing Federation, “I am writing to you all personally to offer a formal and sincere apology for this and acknowledge that her privacy should have been protected.”
He added, “reaching out to you personally we show our true respect to you and your athletes.”
Recently a chromosome test allegedly administered to the Olympian in 2023 by Dr Lal Path Labs has once again triggered a controversy around her biological sex. The report has allegedly been leaked.
3 Wire Sports reported, “In chromosome tests given amid the International Boxing Association’s 2022 and 2023 world championships, the boxer’s DNA showed XY markers with ‘male’ karyotype.”
Karyotype is the complete set of chromosomes in a person’s cells. Humans usually have 46 chromosomes, arranged in 23 pairs. The sex chromosomes determine biological sex – XX is female, while XY is male.
Meanwhile, in its statement, World Boxing had said, “The introduction of mandatory testing will be part of a new policy on ‘sex, age and weight’ to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women.”
“The policy is in the final stages of development and has been crafted by a specially convened working group of the World Boxing medical and anti-doping committee, which has examined data and medical evidence from an extensive range of sources and consulted widely with other sports and experts across the world.”
