LAUSANNE, Feb 11— The International Boxing Association (IBA) said yesterday it is to take legal action against the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over the inclusion of Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting at last year’s Olympic Games.
The two female boxers had been excluded from the IBA’s 2023 world championships after the fighters failed gender eligibility tests but the IOC cleared them to fight and both went on to win gold medals in Paris.
The IOC organised the boxing in Paris following the expulsion of the IBA from the Olympic movement after financial and ethical irregularities.
In its statement, which linked their action to US President Donald Trump’s executive order last week seeking to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, the IBA said that it is “filing an official complaint with the Attorney General of Switzerland… regarding the IOC’s actions”.
It added that it was filing similar complaints in France and the United States.
“President Trump’s order to ban transgender athletes from women’s sport validates IBA’s efforts to protect the integrity of female sports,” claimed IBA president Umar Kremlev, a Kremlin-linked Russian oligarch.
Neither Imane Khelif nor Lin Yu-ting are transgender women. Both were born and raised as women, which is how they are registered on their passports.
The Olympic rings are pictured in front of the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne March 24, 2020. The IOC organised the boxing in Paris following the expulsion of the IBA from the Olympic movement after financial and ethical irregularities. — Reuters pic
“This IBA statement is just another example of IBA’s campaign against the IOC which is ongoing since their recognition was withdrawn by the IOC for issues related to governance, judging and refereeing as well as questions around their finances,” the IOC told AFP in response later yesterday.
“The two female athletes mentioned by IBA are not transgender athletes.
“They were born as women, were raised as women, and have competed in the women’s category for their entire boxing careers, including at previous international competitions such as the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, when both of them did not win a medal.
“They also competed in IBA World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments before they became victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA.
“Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023 they were disqualified, without any due process,” it added. — AFP
