The International Boxing Association (IBA) defended its ban of two controversial boxers against claims of illegitimacy made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In 2023, IBA President Umar Kremlev explained the decision to disqualify Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting and Algeria’s Imane Khelif from the IBA’s 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships, according to Russia’s Tass News Agency. “Based on DNA tests, we identified athletes posing as women. The tests proved they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from competition,” Kremlev said.

Despite these findings, the IOC allowed Khelif and Lin to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, dismissing the IBA’s tests as “illegitimate” and lacking credibility. The IOC has also stripped the IBA of its title as the world governing body for boxing over financial and governance issues.

In response, the IBA held a press conference, stating that both Lin and Khelif underwent gender tests during the 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships. The tests, conducted by an independent lab in Istanbul, showed both boxers failed the chromosome test requirements to be categorized as women. Both athletes were informed in writing and given the chance to appeal. Lin did not appeal, while Khelif initially appealed but later withdrew.

Dr. Ioannis Filippatos, former Chair of the IBA Medical Committee and an experienced OB/GYN, provided expert testimony. “Medicine is knowledge, it is not opinion. The nature and the biological world do not change.”

Addressing media challenges, Dr. Filippatos stated plainly, “The medical result — the blood result — looks and says, the laboratories, that this boxer is male.”

Khelif has secured at least a bronze medal in the Olympics and is on the path to gold if victorious against Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand. Both Khelif and Yu-ting are guaranteed medals after multiple comprehensive victories over female opponents.