Imane Khelif has appealed to the court of arbitration for sport over World Boxing’s decision to bar the 26-year-old from its events without a preliminary genetic sex test.
A court statement said an appeal was filed by Khelif on 5 August seeking to overturn a decision by World Boxing blocking the Algerian’s participation in the Box Cup in Eindhoven or any World Boxing event until a genetic sex test had taken place.
The appeal also seeks a declaration from Cas that Khelif is eligible to participate without a test in the world boxing championships in Liverpool, taking place between 4 and 14 September.
The court statement said a request to suspend World Boxing’s decision to bar Khelif until the case is heard was dismissed on Monday. Written submissions are being exchanged between the parties, the court statement said, and a hearing will be scheduled with their agreement.
Khelif won Olympic women’s welterweight gold in Paris last summer having been cleared to compete by the International Olympic Committee, despite the International Boxing Association having banned Khelif from the previous year’s world championships for allegedly failing to meet gender eligibility criteria.
After winning gold, Khelif said: “I am fully qualified to take part in this competition – I am a woman.
“I was born a woman, I’ve lived as a woman and I’ve competed as a woman. There’s no doubt that there are enemies of success, and that gives my success a special taste because of these attacks.”
Taiwan’s Lin will miss world championships
Lin Yu-ting, the other boxer embroiled in the gender eligibility row at last year’s Paris Olympics, will not compete at the upcoming world championships.
An official at the Taiwan boxing association, who preferred not to be named, confirmed Lin’s absence on Tuesday but declined to provide any further details. Her coach, Tseng Tzu-chiang, had insisted in August that Lin had no plans to skip the event in Liverpool.
“She has not considered withdrawing from the competition because of the new gender tests. We will submit all the relevant documents requested by the organisers, as part of normal procedures,” Tseng had said at the time. Reuters
