A UN adviser has issued a report calling for sex testing to be reinstated in international boxing after two controversial boxers won gold at the Paris Olympics this year.
The IBA disqualified Khelif, fighting in the 66-kilogram division, and Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting, fighting in the 57-kilogram division, from fighting in its women’s tournaments in March 2023 on the grounds that they failed unspecified tests to confirm that they fit the governing body’s definition of a woman. IBA President Umar Kremlev told the Russian news agency Tass at the time that Lin and Khelif “have XY chromosomes,” the genetic makeup of a human male.
Both boxers have claimed they are women, and in Khelif’s case, a birth certificate attesting to being female at birth was produced.
The new report by UN adviser Reem Alsalem insists that reinstating sex testing will prevent controversies such as those that happened at this year’s Olympics.
“There are circumstances in which sex screenings are necessary, legitimate, and proportional to ensure fairness and safety in sports. At the Olympics, female boxers had to compete against two boxers whose sex as females was seriously contested. Still, the IOC refused to carry out screening,” the report says, according to the Daily Mail.
“Current technology enables a reliable sex screening procedure through a simple cheek swab for non-invasiveness, confidentiality, and dignity,” the report continues.
“Physiological advantages are not undone by testosterone suppression. Undermining the eligibility criteria for single-sex sports results in unfair, unlawful, and extreme forms of discrimination against female athletes on the basis of sex,” Alsalem says.
Alsalem also suggested that a new open category be created for transgender athletes.
The report states that 600 female athletes have lost the opportunity to win 890 medals in 29 sports around the world thanks to being forced to compete against “biological males.”
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