World Boxing has issued a formal apology to the Algerian Boxing Federation for naming Imane Khelif in a public statement announcing mandatory gender testing for athletes competing in its events.
The international boxing body, which was recently granted provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to oversee the sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, introduced the policy following controversy surrounding gender eligibility, including during the Paris 2024 Olympic qualifiers.
Khelif, Algeria’s welterweight gold medallist at the Paris Games, was initially cited in a statement outlining the new testing policy, which mandates PCR (polymerase chain reaction) genetic testing for all athletes over 18 to confirm their chromosomal sex at birth.
However, World Boxing has now walked back the move to publicly link Khelif to the policy, admitting it was inappropriate.
“The president of World Boxing does not think it was correct to have named a specific athlete in a statement issued last Friday,” the federation said. It added that a “formal and sincere apology” had been sent to the president of the Algerian Boxing Federation, acknowledging the need for greater sensitivity.
Under the new rules, national federations will be responsible for conducting and certifying PCR tests to confirm the eligibility of male and female athletes. The test detects the presence of the Y chromosome through a saliva, nasal, or blood sample.
Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting were previously disqualified from the 2023 IBA World Championships after failing to meet gender eligibility criteria. Their cases intensified the global debate around gender in elite sports, drawing commentary from high-profile figures including Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
The IOC has since severed ties with the International Boxing Association (IBA) over governance concerns and has turned to World Boxing as the sport’s future governing authority.
