Women's boxing during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Roland-Garros Stadium, August 10, 2024. MOHD RASFAN / AFP
The French women's team have been barred from the World Boxing Championships because the results of their gender tests were not delivered on time, the French Federation (FFBoxe) said Thursday, September 2.
World Boxing said last month women wanting to compete in the event in Liverpool that starts on Thursday would have to undergo mandatory genetic sex testing under its new policy. Such tests have been banned in France since a law was passed in 1994, save under strict conditions, so the French federation had to wait till they reached England in order to proceed with them.
The five-member team underwent testing in a World Boxing-accredited laboratory with the understanding, FFBoxe said, that the results would be available before the deadline. "We are sorry some boxers did not meet the deadline for results of testing, but the rules and deadlines were published," a World Boxing official told AFP agency.
FFBoxe was seething over the decision. "It is with stupefaction and indignation that the French team learned on Wednesday evening the French women's boxing team would not be able to compete in the first world championships organized by World Boxing," it said in a statement. "Despite guarantees given to us by World Boxing, the laboratory they recommended to us was not up to the task of delivering the results on time. As a result, our athletes, as well as those from other countries, have been caught in this trap and excluded."
