Conference Carried by IBA on boxing Row
In a press conference on Monday, the IBA raised more questions than it answered on an eligibility dispute that has cast a cloud over boxing at the 2024 Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has given Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting permission to compete in the Games, meaning they would both be guaranteed at least bronze medals in the women’s sport in Paris.
IBA’s Conference
This is true even though the IBA, the organization that hosted the competition, said the two had not passed gender eligibility requirements, thereby disqualifying them from the 2023 Women’s World Championships.
The IOC removed the Russian-led IBA from its position as the governing body of amateur boxing in 2019 due to concerns about its management and regulations. Umar Kremlev, the president, and Chris Roberts, the CEO, called a press conference in Paris where they were expected to provide additional information regarding the disqualifications.
However, following a more than hour-long news conference that was delayed by technological issues, Kremlev and Roberts provided divergent and frequently contradicting explanations for the disqualifications.
What did the IBA say?
Roberts states that tests on Khelif and Lin were conducted at the 2022 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, but that the results were deemed “inconclusive” and no action was done.
He said that the boxers were deemed “ineligible” per IBA regulations, which led to their disqualification from the World Championships un New Delhi, India the following year.
“The results of the chromosome tests demonstrated both boxers were ineligible,” Roberts stated.
Roberts stated that the two had “chromosome tests,” but Kremlev seemed to imply that the tests were meant to measure the fighters’ testosterone levels.
One hormone that can improve muscular mass and strength is testosterone. Genetic information, including a person’s sex, is carried by chromosomes.
“want to prove they were born women, they have to do it by themselves” .
“We got the test results that they allowed us to make and these test results show they have high levels of testosterone, like men.”
Kremlev went on to say that boxers “want to prove they were born women, they have to do it by themselves” and reiterated his criticism of IOC president Thomas Bach.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada)-accredited laboratories received the tests, according to the IBA.
Wada, meanwhile, has informed BBC Sport that it solely deals with anti-doping issues and does not supervise gender testing.
Last Monday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declared that the “aggression” directed toward Khelif and Lin was “based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure”.
The BBC has not had access to the IBA eligibility test findings and is now unable to ascertain what they included.
Many other sports, like swimming, cycling, and athletics, have more restrictive rules for athletes with different sex development and have outlawed transgender women from participating in women’s events.
However, the IOC stated that boxers might compete in the women’s division if their passports indicated they were female.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams defended Khelif and Lin’s participation at the Paris Games earlier on Monday.
“These athletes have been competing in senior competitions for six years with no issues,” Adams stated.
“These women were eligible for this contest, remain eligible for this contest and compete in this contest.”
Khelif stated: “I want to tell the entire world that I am a female, and I will remain a female.” Her team has not yet replied to the IBA.
The “malicious and unethical attacks directed against our distinguished athlete, Imane Khelif, by certain foreign media” have been criticized in the past by Algeria’s Olympic Committee (COA).
The Taiwanese Olympic Committee and Lin have not responded.
BBC Sport’s interview with Chris Roberts
Following Monday’s press briefing, Ade Adedoyin of BBC Sport had a conversation with Chris Roberts, the CEO of the IBA.
Question: What were the tests you did in 2022?
Answer: “Tests, which are for gender testing, were in 2022 in Istanbul. Those results were done in the laboratory. The results that came out of that identified, in accordance with the rules, an ineligibility to compete.”
Q: They were blood tests?
A: “Yes, blood tests.”
Q: But you said those blood tests were inconclusive?
A: “Correct. For both boxers.”
Q: What did the second blood tests tell you?
A: “Exactly the same. It gave us the same information. With that information, it was then presented to our board of directors to decide, based on our eligibility criteria, what constitutes male and what constitutes female.”
Q: So to clarify, the tests you did in 2022 and 2023 were exactly the same?
A: “Yes, correct. They were done through laboratories.”
Q: What were those tests designed to show? Your president said they were for testosterone?
A: “It was the chromosome thing. It was to identify that. Effectively gender testing.”
Q: What do you mean?
A: “So basically what level of chromosome marries up with XX XY. Based on that criteria. You’ve seen that in technical competition rules. So if you look at that you’ll see what that means.”
Q: Umar Kremlev said you tested them for testosterone…
A: “No, the blood tests were done. It was based on the criteria set against… it was a gender test, blood test. I’m not going to state [Kremlev] was wrong.”
Q: He said elevated levels of testosterone…
A: “Well, there are elevated levels of testosterone in that testing. It brings out a couple of different things. It identifies different things in that test.”
Q: The doctor said they were ‘genetically male’. What does he mean?
A: “I don’t know. I don’t know what his point is on that. You’d have to ask him that. All I’m saying here is tests were conducted in Istanbul, tests were then conducted in India. Results came out. Ineligibility demonstrates against the criteria and therefore that’s why the boxers were removed from our tournament.”
Q: We hoped for clarity, can see you why confusion has been caused?
A: “We can only take from the tests what they produce. I can’t go into that detail.”
Q: We are still not exactly clear what the situation is…
A: “I think the situation here is… why don’t you ask the boxers? We can’t disclose this direct information. It may be worth asking the boxers themselves.”
Q: Kremlev said testosterone, you’re saying XY chromosome. We are not further forward in understanding…
A: “OK.”
Q: Was today shambolic?
A: “In what sense? That you didn’t get the information that was needed? We can send this information to you so you can see it.”
Q: The labs, were they Wada-accredited?
A: “Yes, accredited. With licence numbers. Correct. The media have brought all of this hype up. Nobody ever said Imane Khelif was a man or the Chinese Taipei boxer, not me.”
Q: But your doctor did? Your doctor said they were genetically male…
A: “What did the doctor say? Did he? OK.”