Controversy in sport has once again arisen where the International Boxing Association (IBA) has expressed its intentions to sue the International Olympic Committee for allowing transgender athletes to compete in the branches that do not correspond to them.
This is under the backing and/or protection of the decrees signed by Donald Trump, President of the United States, which states that “men should be kept out of women’s sports,” ordered last week.
Which athletes would be affected?
The Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who won the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games along with Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting, in the women’s branch, but with the controversy of their sex at birth and their natural gender was questioned. To public opinion, both characters are biologically male.
The legal controversy lies in the point where, according to official information, both Khelif and Yu-ting were born and raised as women and never identified as transgender or intersex. Otherwise, they would have been acting unfairly by competing as men in the women’s branch and now by order of Donald Trump it is illegal.
It should be remembered that her path to gold was marred by gender controversy. The AIB claimed that the boxers had failed unspecified gender eligibility tests during the 2022 and 2023 IBA World Championships. Finally, the IOC decided to dismantle the organisation before the Tokyo 2020 Games and therefore both athletes are not supported by the Boxing Association.
The Algerian, who has been in the eye of the storm ever since, issued a statement on the matter. “For eight years, I have fought for my dream: eight years of sacrifice, discipline and perseverance to be on the Olympic stage and represent my country with pride,” she said
Although Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting may have thought the gender controversy was behind them, once again the storm has returned. Such lawsuits can last years or more, so their names and careers could be stalled if a settlement is not reached.
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