On Friday the International Olympic Committee supported the inclusion of two boxers in the women's competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, while the International Boxing Association demanded their removal as a result of failing gender eligibility tests last year.

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s 46-second win at the Paris Olympics on Thursday sparked a furious row about gender eligibility rules.

Also read: Boxing, Olympics 2024: Why Angela Carini abandoned her bout against Imane Khelif in 46 seconds

Last year, Khelif was disqualified hours before her gold medal bout at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships over “elevated testosterone levels”, according to her profile on the Paris Games website.

Meanwhile, Lin Yu Ting from Taiwan was stripped of her bronze medal at the championship after undergoing “biochemical” tests that were mandated by the IBA.

Additionally, for context, the IBA was effectively expelled from the Olympic movement following a bitter dispute between the IOC and Russian oligarch and IBA President Umar Kremlev.

Last year, the IOC withdrew recognition of the IBA citing long standing issues with governance, financial transparency, and perceived corruption.

Instead of the IBA, the IOC now relies on the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit, an ad-hoc committee it established to set eligibility standards in the Olympics.

IOC stands by athletes

The IOC claimed that the two female boxers embroiled in a controversy over gender eligibility criteria were victims of a “sudden and arbitrary decision” by the IBA.

“Everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the eligibility criteria,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters.

“They are women in their passports and it’s stated that is the case, and they are female.”

Adams said that determining eligibility criteria for women’s sport was “incredibly complex” and should be done by federations.

Later on Friday, Paris 2024 Boxing Unit and the International Olympic Committee issued a joint statement on the incident.

“We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” read the statement.

“The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.

“These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.”

IBA calls out inconsistency in eligibility criteria

Meanwhile, IBA reiterated its stance on removing the boxers from all events and condemned both the IOC and World Boxing, a newly formed international governing body for the sport, for permitting ineligible athletes to compete.

IBA had also issued a statement on their stance and justifying the disqualification of Khelif and Lin at the World Championships in New Delhi last year after failing to pass eligibility tests.

The statement read: “The athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential.

“This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors.”

According to IBA’s statement, the two tests were performed during the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul in 2022 and the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi.

With inputs from AFP