France’s female boxing contingent has been left sidelined from the first-ever World Boxing Championships in Liverpool after a bureaucratic dispute over gender verification tests prevented them from meeting registration requirements.
The French Boxing Federation (FFB) condemned the governing body, World Boxing, for what it described as a “serious injustice” that has deprived five of its athletes of the chance to compete. The tournament, which began Thursday in Merseyside, has drawn fighters from more than 60 nations, including several Olympic medalists.
The controversy stems from new eligibility regulations introduced earlier this year, following heated debate around Algerian-born French boxer Imane Khelif’s gold medal triumph at the Paris Olympics. World Boxing ruled in May that all participants must undergo sex determination testing before being cleared to fight.
According to the FFB, the tests were not legally permissible in France, forcing its athletes to complete them abroad. The federation said it was directed to a laboratory in Leeds, with assurances results would be processed in under 24 hours, leaving enough time to register before the September 1 cut-off. But the results did not arrive before the deadline, making the boxers ineligible.
The fallout has been fierce. Maelys Richol, one of the excluded fighters, demanded accountability, calling the mishap “an unforgivable waste” of months of preparation. Federation president Dominique Nato went further, accusing World Boxing of “betrayal” in comments to French media.
“I told Boris van der Vorst he was taking away the girls’ dreams. He just said he was sorry but powerless because it was a legal decision,” Nato said, referring to World Boxing’s president.
World Boxing, however, insists that the onus was on national federations to ensure compliance with the testing protocols. “It is unfortunate that some athletes could not complete the entry process in time,” the body said in a statement, adding that it was “deeply disappointing” for the boxers concerned.
The saga comes as gender eligibility continues to divide sport. Just last week, Khelif herself filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport after being told she must undergo a sex test before competing again. Speaking earlier this year, she rejected any doubts over her identity: “I was born and raised as a girl and have always lived as one.”
For France’s sidelined fighters, however, the damage is already done. Instead of chasing medals in Liverpool, they are left waiting, victims of an administrative dispute that has cast a shadow over the sport’s new era.
