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Boxers banned from Worlds due to missed gender test as organisers slammed

By Robert Hynes

Boxers banned from Worlds due to missed gender test as organisers slammed

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The French federation has slammed World Boxing for what they described as a "betrayal" after the country's women's team were denied entry to the World Championships in Liverpool due to gender test results not being received on time.

The tests have become compulsory for entry into the female category after the sport was rocked by the controversy surrounding Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting at last summer's Olympics.

Federation president Dominique Nato told L'Equipe that his organisation couldn't conduct the tests in France as such tests for sporting reasons are forbidden.

He revealed he had discussed with World Boxing president Boris van der Vorst about conducting the tests upon arrival in Liverpool, and Van der Vorst suggested a laboratory.

The tests were carried out on Monday, according to Nato, but he was informed by the team technical director on Wednesday evening that the team were being excluded as the results hadn't arrived.

"I took this as a betrayal and I called Boris van der Vorst, I told him he was taking away the girls' dreams, that it wasn't normal," L'Equipe quoted Nato as saying.

"He told me he was sorry for us, but that he couldn't do anything, that it was the decision of World Boxing's lawyers."

World Boxing stated in a response that the responsibility for carrying out the tests has always been with the national federations.

"It is very disappointing for the boxers that some national federations have not been able to complete this process in time which means that some athletes have not made it through the sports entry process for the World Boxing Championships," the governing body expressed.

It's believed that World Boxing had been in touch with federations as recently as 21 August about the policy, highlighting that test results could take up to 48 hours and tests completed after 1 September might risk the eligibility of athletes or teams.

The governing body is thought to have collaborated with several federations over the past three weeks to facilitate testing in the UK, and a number of athletes who have undergone this process have been given the green light to compete.

However, it's understood that athletes from other nations have also been barred from competing for the same reason as the French boxers.

Khelif is separately taking on World Boxing's eligibility rules at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Alongside Taiwanese fighter Lin, Khelif was given permission to compete by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at last summer's Olympic Games in Paris despite being disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for allegedly failing gender eligibility tests.

That 2023 tournament was organised by the International Boxing Association, which has since been superseded by World Boxing as the sport's IOC-recognised global federation.

Khelif has consistently asserted that she was born a woman, lived as a woman and competed as a woman.

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