The World Boxing Organisation (WBO) says reports it has banned Olympic champion Imane Khelif and stripped her of her Paris gold medal for failing gender eligibility tests are “obviously false.”
A report from an online sports blog was being shared on social media after claiming Khelif had been given a lifetime ban.
In a statement, the WBO’s legal counsel Gustavo Olivieri said it had “not tested, nor had it banned” Khelif and that “any report stating otherwise is obviously fake and ill intentioned.”
Olivieri added the WBO had had “no communication” with Khelif.
With Khelif being an amateur boxer, the WBO – which sanctions professional boxers to fight for their belt – would have no jurisdiction, nor would it have the power to strip her of her medal.
The Algerian won women’s welterweight gold in Paris this summer, a year after being disqualified from the World Championships for reportedly failing gender eligibility tests.
The World Championships were run by the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA), which was later stripped of world governing body status by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over integrity and governance issues.
The IOC also questioned the legitimacy and credibility of the IBA’s tests, saying they cannot be relied upon.
The dispute meant the IOC was responsible for running the boxing competition at the Paris Olympics and applied less stringent eligibility criteria.
Speaking after her Olympic victory, Khelif said she had been a victim of “bullying” and that the IBA “hate me and I really don’t know why.”
The 25-year-old added: “I am fully qualified to take part in this competition. I am a woman like any other woman.
“I was born a woman. I have lived as a woman. I competed as a woman – there is no doubt about that.” (BBC)
