The president of breakaway boxing supports the IOC's handling of gender issues at the Paris Olympics
VILLEPINTE, France: The president of the governing body that hopes to host the next Olympic boxing tournament has said he supports the IOC's eligibility policy for the Paris Olympics, urging those without a deep understanding of gender issues to leave the decisions to medical professionals and to scientists. .
World Boxing president Boris Van Der Vorst also told The Associated Press on Thursday that his organization will always put athlete safety first when creating its own health and gender policies, recognizing that combat sports sometimes require special considerations to protect all athletes.
Van Der Vorst still strongly disagrees with critics of the IOC's handling of the Olympic tournament, specifically the eligibility of female boxers Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan.
“I think it's very important that when people here are fit to compete, we have to respect them,” Van Der Vorst said. “I think it's a very sad situation for all the boxers, everyone involved.
The now-defunct International Boxing Association, which World Boxing hopes to replace, claimed both fighters failed gender eligibility tests at their 2023 world championships after both had competed in amateur boxing for many years.
Khelif won her first match in Paris on Thursday when her opponent Angela Carini of Italy retired after just 46 seconds. Although Carini said she was not making a political statement about Khelif, Carini's tearful exit from the match became a global sensation on social media and in the Western culture wars.
“What happened today should not have happened like this,” Van Der Vorst told the AP. “The pressure that is from social media, from the press, from everyone else is not very helpful and it gets to everyone's head.”
Criticism of the two boxers is based in part on the policies and decisions of the IBA, which has been outside the Olympic movement since 2019 following years of IOC concerns about its leadership, integrity and financial transparency.
The IBA disqualified Khelif from its world championships for what it said were elevated testosterone levels and stripped Lin of her bronze medal, claiming she failed unspecified eligibility requirements in a biochemical test.
Van Der Vorst's World Boxing is an alliance of several dozen nations that broke away from the IBA after an internal power struggle failed to oust its Russian president, Umar Kremlev. The last two Olympic boxing tournaments were managed by the IOC working group.
If World Boxing wins approval to become the sport's Olympic governing body, it will be in charge of major tournaments during the Olympic cycle. If World Boxing fails, boxing is likely to drop from the Olympic programme.
Van Der Vorst said it was “too soon” to know World Boxing's exact gender identity policy, given the unique physical demands and dangers of boxing.
“First and foremost, safety,” Van Der Vorst said. “But I think with combat sports there could be other reasons why you deal with these kinds of situations.
The IOC used the 2016 rules to determine the gender eligibility of boxers, while several governing bodies of Olympic sports have updated their gender rules over the past three years, including World Aquatics, World Athletics and the International Cycling Union. The governing body for athletics also tightened the rules for athletes with different gender development last year.
“As soon as possible after these Games, we will commission our medical committee to develop a policy and they are already underway,” Van Der Vorst said. “But they have to finalize their policy and the general issue is very complicated. You need to have good tests, not just gender tests, but also medical tests. More importantly, I don't think it's up to you and me. It's up to the (professional) people who take part (in the testing).”
Van Der Vorst and other members of his organization are in Paris as observers – and occasionally as recruiters from other countries – to join the only governing body with a chance of keeping boxing on the Olympic program when the IOC decides the sport's fate in early 2025. World Boxing currently has 37 members.
World Boxing is also studying the mechanics for major tournaments it wants to host, including the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympics in Senegal and the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Both Taiwan and Algeria are still members of the IBA, but Lin competed in the World Boxing tournament in Pueblo, Colorado, last spring. She lost her opening match to Brazilian Olympian Jucielen Romeu.
Van Der Vorst came away from a busy day disappointed by the wild conclusions and speculations that have been circulating on social media about both fighters.
“I haven't seen a single test that proves (boxers are) transgender,” Van Der Vorst said. “That's why it's not very respectful of the boxers who compete here … to talk about them in those terms.” That's what I'm trying to emphasize. When there is proof, yes, it's a different situation. But I haven't seen anything to prove it.”
