Barry McGuigan leads chorus of dismay at 'demonstrably unfair' decision to allow previously disqualified boxers in the female category in the Olympics
With controversial contender Imane Khelif due to fight in the Olympic women’s boxing tomorrow, there has been an upwelling of dismay at the decision – including from Ulster boxing legend Barry McGuigan.
Khelif, and a Taiwanese fighter called Lin Yu Ting, have been cleared to fight against women amid a flurry of claims that they exhibit male characteristics.
They were previously barred from fighting, but it is not clear if this was due to genetic testing showing them to be male, or the presence of elevated testosterone (more details below).
All of this comes amid a huge amount of attention in recent years focusing on the inclusion of males who declare themselves to be transgender in women's sports.
Ex-boxer and manager Mr McGuigan (171,000 followers) hit out at the decision to let them compete.
"It’s pathetic,” he wrote on Twitter.
"What are the authorities doing about this? In boxing or any other combat sport it’s criminal.”
In response to International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams saying “these athletes have competed many times before for many years,” Mr McGuigan responded: “It is demonstrably unfair and dangerous – what are the IOC doing?”
Meanwhile JK Rowling (@jk_rowling, 14.2m followers) said: “What will it take to end this insanity? A female boxer left with life-altering injuries? A female boxer killed?”
Olympic spokesman Mark Adams also went on to say: “The federation needs to make the rules to make sure that there is fairness but at the same time there is the ability for everyone to take part that wants to. That is a difficult balance.
"In the end the experts for each sport are the people who work in that. If there is a big advantage that clearly is not acceptable, but that needs to be a decision made at that level."
Much of the controversy stems from a short news report filed in Russian by the news agency TASS last year ahead of the Women’s Boxing World Championships.
In that report, the head of the IBA – the group which until recently ran Olympic boxing – was quoted as saying (according to Google Translate): "Based on the results of DNA tests… they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes have been excluded from the competition.”
This has widely understood as a reference to Khelif and Lin Yu Ting.
The Guardian has reported that, on the International Olympic Committee’s internal system, it states that Khelif was “disqualified just hours before her gold medal showdown against Yang Liu at the 2023 world championships in New Delhi, India, after her elevated levels of testosterone failed to meet the eligibility criteria”, with Lin Yu Ting also failing to meet eligibility requirements.
However the IBA, which disqualified both the athletes before, no longer looks after Olympic boxing.
Instead it is run by Olympic organisers directly now under what The Guardian says are “more relaxed rules”, allowing both athletes to compete.
While Lin Yu Ting is believed to have been so far silent on the issue, the news agency AFP last year quoted Khelif as saying last year’s disqualification was part of a “conspiracy” to deprive Algeria of a medal.
Meanwhile Khelif’s fans have been sharing images, purportedly of the athlete’s childhood, to demonstrate Khelif was raised a girl.
Welterweight Khelif faces Italy's Angela Carini on Thursday, and Lin Yu Ting is due to fight the next day.