Olympic boxing champ Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to fight for new governing body
London (AP): Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to participate in upcoming events with the sport's new governing body.
World Boxing announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes on Friday. The governing body specifically mentioned Khelif when announcing the policy, saying the Algerian gold medal winner must be screened before she will be approved to fight at any upcoming events, including the Eindhoven Box Cup next month in the Netherlands.
“The introduction of mandatory testing will be part of a new policy on Sex, Age and Weight' to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women,” World Boxing wrote in a statement. The fighters' national federations will be responsible for administering the tests and providing the results to World Boxing.
Khelif won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics last summer amid international scrutiny on her and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, another gold medal winner. The previous governing body for Olympic boxing, the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association, disqualified both fighters from its 2023 world championships after claiming they had failed an unspecified eligibility test.
The IOC ran the past two Olympic boxing tournaments after the banishment of the IBA for decades of misdeeds and controversy, and it applied the sex eligibility rules used in previous Olympics. Khelif and Lin were eligible to compete under those standards.
Khelif intends to return to international competition next month in Eindhoven as part of her plan to defend her gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, but some boxers and their federations had already spoken out to protest her inclusion.
Chromosome testing was common in Olympic sports during the 20th century, but was largely abandoned in the 1990s because of numerous ambiguities that couldn't be easily resolved by the tests, collectively known as differences in sex development (DSD). Many sports switched to hormone testing to determine sex eligibility, but those tests require governing bodies to make difficult decisions on the eligibility of women with naturally high testosterone levels.
Three months ago, World Athletics — the governing body for track and field — became the first Olympic sport to reintroduce chromosome testing, requiring athletes who compete in the women's events to submit to the test once in their careers.
World Boxing has been provisionally approved to replace the IBA as the governing body at the Los Angeles Games, but it has faced significant pressure from boxers and their federations to create sex eligibility standards.
World Boxing announced that all athletes over 18 years old in its competitions must undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genetic test to determine their sex at birth. The PCR test detects chromosomal material through a mouth swab, saliva or blood.
If an athlete intending to compete in the women's categories is determined to have male chromosomal material, “initial screenings will be referred to independent clinical specialists for genetic screening, hormonal profiles, anatomical examination or other valuation of endocrine profiles by medical specialists,” World Boxing wrote. The policy also includes an appeals process.
The boxing body's decision is the latest development in a tumultuous period in Olympic sex eligibility policy. The issue of transgender participation in sports has become an international flashpoint, with President Donald Trump and other conservative world leaders repeatedly weighing in.
Earlier this year, World Athletics also proposed recommendations that would apply strict rules to athletes who were born female but had what the organization describes as naturally occurring testosterone levels in the typical male range. In 2023, World Athletics banned transgender athletes who had transitioned male to female and gone through male puberty.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said he felt confident that the body's new rules would withstand legal challenges.
The 26-year-old Khelif had competed in women's boxing events under the IBA's auspices without controversy until the 2023 world championships. She had never won a major international competition before her dominant performance in the women's welterweight division in Paris.
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BJP vows to return to power in 2028 in Karnataka, attacks Cong at executive committee meet
Bengaluru (PTI): BJP leaders on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the Congress government in Karnataka and exuded confidence that the party would return to power in the 2028 Assembly elections.
The opposition party in Karnataka also passed four resolutions at its state executive committee meeting at the Palace Grounds here. It includes rampant corruption in the state, misuse of government funds, growing drug menace, agrarian problem and the garbage crisis in Bengaluru.
The party also hailed the Centre for introducing Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajivika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
The executive committee welcomed the Centre's decision to give respect to 'Vande Mataram' song.
Addressing the meeting, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra alleged there was "zero development" in the state and claimed discontent within the ruling party.
"Let us work day and night to restore the BJP’s past glory in Karnataka," Vijayendra said, adding, "A situation has arisen where even MLAs of the ruling party may revolt against the government."
He alleged that law and order had completely deteriorated under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state and referred to murders in Surathkal and Yellapur, claiming no compensation had been provided to the families of a Dalit woman in Yellapur and a Dalit man in Koppal.
He further alleged that Mysuru had become a narcotics hub and recalled the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl during Dasara in the Chief Minister’s home district.
Vijayendra urged party workers to gear up for a series of upcoming elections, including local body polls, GBA elections and Assembly bypolls, and called for grassroots mobilisation to highlight the failures of the Congress government.
Inaugurating the meeting, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said, "This is not merely an organisational meeting but a meeting for introspection."
He described it as a gathering to strengthen the organisation and resolve to remove the corrupt government from power.
Expressing confidence about the party’s prospects, he said the BJP would form the government in Karnataka in 2028 with an overwhelming majority.
He criticised the Congress for the Emergency and alleged that the state had become "corrupt and financially bankrupt", referring to scandals, including MUDA. He also claimed there had been infighting over the Chief Minister’s post from the beginning and that public debt had risen sharply.
BJP National General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge Radha Mohan Das Agarwal said the party's victory in the 2028 Assembly elections was certain and objected to alleged attempts to curb RSS activities in the state.
He accused the government of favouring minorities over Scheduled Castes and termed it a "corrupt government".
Former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who was felicitated for completing 50 years in active politics, called upon party workers to resolve to bring the BJP back to power "on our own strength" and to "uproot the corrupt Congress government".
Former Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said it was Yediyurappa who had brought the BJP to power in Karnataka for the first time in South India and praised his role in strengthening the party.
Several senior leaders, including Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi, Shobha Karandlaje and V Somanna, and other state leaders were present at the meeting.
