PARIS: The gender tests conducted by the International Boxing Association (IBA) on two female fighters at last year's world championships that led to their disqualification were illegitimate and lacked credibility, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Sunday.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwan's double world champion Lin Yu-ting were cleared to compete at the Paris Olympics despite having been disqualified during the 2023 World Championships after the IBA said they had failed a gender eligibility test.
The IOC said the testing process at that event, which only came towards the end of the competition after the boxers had already fought several bouts, was completely arbitrary.
"Those tests are not legitimate tests. The tests themselves, the process of the tests, the ad hoc nature of the tests are not legitimate," IOC spokesperson Mark Adams told a press conference.
"The testing, the method of the testing, the idea of the testing which happened kind of overnight. None of it is legitimate and this does not deserve any response," Adams said.
The IOC last year stripped the IBA of its status as boxing's governing body over governance and finance issues, and took charge of the Paris Games boxing competition, applying eligibility rules from the 2016 and the 2021 Olympics.
Khelif's dominance in Thursday's round-of-16 welterweight fight against Angela Carini, who withdrew after 46 seconds following a barrage of punches from the Algerian, triggered a furore that swept social media and saw people such as J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk voice their opposition to her competing in the Games.
The IBA on Friday promised to pay Italy's Carini $50,000 in prize money, further fanning the ongoing dispute with the IOC. Agencies
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