French women's boxing team barred from World Championships over delayed gender tests
The French women's boxing team has been excluded from the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool after their gender test results arrived too late, sparking controversy over the new mandatory testing policy.
French team excluded from World Championships
World Boxing, the sport’s governing body, announced last month mandatory genetic sex tests for women over 18 at the event in Liverpool (4-14 September). Because such tests are banned in France, the FFBoxe sent its five athletes to a Leeds lab on Monday.
But on Thursday the federation said the lab could not deliver results in time, disqualifying the French women from the championships. FFBoxe criticized World Boxing for recommending an inadequate facility, trapping athletes from multiple countries.
Responsibility and controversy
World Boxing insists national federations must oversee testing, as they handle boxer entries and schedules. “It is very disappointing ... some athletes have not made it through the sports entry process for the World Boxing Championships,” the body said.
Legal challenge and Olympic precedent
Last week, Algeria’s Imane Khelif appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the test policy. She and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting were previously barred by the IBA in 2023 but later won gold at the Paris Olympics after the IOC allowed competitors whose passports list “female”.
New governance for boxing
Boxing’s former world federation, the IBA, lost IOC recognition amid governance issues. The IOC managed the sport at Paris 2024 before granting World Boxing provisional federation status in February 2025.
France’s boxers missed the Liverpool deadline for mandatory genetic sex tests, highlighting logistical challenges and sparking legal and governance disputes over World Boxing’s new policy.
This topic was reported by BBC Sport.
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