The International Boxing Association (IBA) has announced plans to take legal action against the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the inclusion of Algeria and Taiwan fighters, Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
The association expressed concern that the IOC cleared the fighters to participate at the Olympics, after allegedly failing gender eligibility tests and were excluded from the IBA’s 2023 Championships.
In its statement, IBA said the decision to drag the IOC to the courts was motivated by the recent executive order that prohibits transgender women from female sports, signed by American President, Donald Trump.
“President Trump’s order to ban transgender athletes from women’s sport validates IBA’s efforts to protect the integrity of female sports.
Our actions aim to ensure gender equality in boxing.
We urge other International Federations to follow IBA’s example, as we are uniquely positioned to address this issue and advocate for our athletes’ rights.
As a result, IBA is filing an official complaint with the Attorney General of Switzerland, Mr Stefan Blätter, regarding the IOC’s actions that facilitated the participation of these ineligible athletes in the 2024 Olympic boxing tournament in Paris,” read a statement from IBA.
According to the Swiss law, any action or inaction that poses a safety risk to competition participants warrants investigation and may serve as grounds for criminal prosecution.
The statement highlighted that similar complaints will be filed with the Attorney Generals of France and the USA respectively.
Last year IOC President Thomas Bach sought to dismiss claims that the two boxers were transgender women.
