Less than a week after World Boxing announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes, Olympic champion Imane Khelif will be skipping the upcoming Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands. The Algerian was caught up in controversy last year when she won gold at the Paris Olympics over her eligibility.
The boxer reportedly did not register for the upcoming event in time, and applications closed on Thursday. According to AP, tournament media director Dirk Renders, “The decision of Imane’s exclusion is not ours. We regret it.”
Also Read: World Boxing issues Imane Khelif apology after naming Olympic gold medallist in sex testing policy
Meanwhile, Eindhoven mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem criticised World Boxing’s latest policy. In a letter to the Dutch Boxing Federation and Inter Boxing Federation, he said, “As far as we are concerned, all athletes are welcome in Eindhoven. Excluding athletes based on controversial ‘gender tests’ certainly does not fit in with that.”
“We are expressing our disapproval of this decision today and are calling on the organisation to admit Imane Khelif after all.”
{{/usCountry}}“We are expressing our disapproval of this decision today and are calling on the organisation to admit Imane Khelif after all.”
{{/usCountry}}Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships by the Russian-dominated IBA, who claimed that the pair failed unspecified eligibility tests. But the IBA has been banished for decades of controversy. The IOC conducted the last two Olympic boxing tournaments instead, using sex eligibility rules used in previous Olympics. Khelif and Lin were eligible, in accordance with IOC rules.
Meanwhile in a letter, Algerian Federation president said, “I am writing to you following the recent World Boxing statement referencing Imane Khelif being excluded from competing in the forthcoming Eindhoven Box Cup 5-10 June 2025.”
“As part of World Boxing’s communications activity around this decision, Imane was identified by name. I am writing to you all personally to offer a formal and sincere apology for this and acknowledge that her privacy should have been protected. To offer some broader context on this, the statement was intended as part of a wider announcement relating to the planned introduction of mandatory sex testing as part of a new policy on “Sex Age and Weight” that World Boxing is in process of finalising.
“This policy is intended to apply universally to all male and female athletes and is designed to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for all men and women.”