World Boxing will open a strict gender screening process, but faces criticism for pointing at Keliff

World Boxing, which has been provisionally recognized as an international athletic organization in charge of boxing from Los Angeles 2028, apologized for mentioning the real name of Imanet Keliff (26, Algeria) in announcing a new gender screening policy.

In the women's 66kg boxing final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Keliff (red), who was mired in gender controversy, won against China's Yang Liu.

The Associated Press learned on the 4th Beijing time that Boris van der Bost, president of the World Boxing Federation, sent a letter of apology to the Algerian Boxing Association. In the apology letter, he said: "I would like to express my formal and sincere apologies to everyone acknowledging that her (her's) privacy should be protected. ”

World Boxing recently decided to introduce a procedure to confirm the determination of sex based on the chromosomes of the fighters who wish to compete. If a male chromosome is confirmed in a competitor who has indicated an intention to compete in a female event, a sample of the athlete will be sent to an independent expert for more thorough research on genetic and hormonal criteria.

This is the second time after the World Athletics Federation that an Olympic sports team has required sex-specific genetic testing for athletes who wish to compete. After announcing that the relevant standards will be applied from the 1st of next month, the World Boxing Federation told the women's boxing gold medallist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games that it will be applied from the Boxing Cup held in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, earlier this month, causing controversy.

Imane Keliff standing at the center of the boxing gender controversy

Keliff won the gold medal in the women's boxing 66kg category at the Paris 2025 Olympics after showing an overwhelming competitive form in the gender controversy. Keliffe and Chinese Taipei's Lin Yuting were disqualified by the International Boxing Federation (IBA) ahead of the 2023 World Championships for not meeting "unspecified eligibility criteria".

Since then, it has been argued that a chromosome (XY) meaning male has been detected in their samples, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which runs boxing at the Paris Olympics, said it would use the gender of the passport as the criterion and agreed to participate.

Although Keliff and Lin Yuting both won the women's boxing championship at the Paris Olympics, there was opposition in the world boxing community, believing that this was an unjust result that could not guarantee the safety of the fighters. The World Boxing Federation, which has been under pressure from the boxing associations of various countries, accepted the argument, foreshadowing strict gender checks, but faced criticism for losing its impartiality by directly identifying Keliff.