New Delhi: The disbanded International Boxing Association (IBA) on Monday said that it will launch a legal action againt the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for permitting two women boxers compete in the Paris Olympics last year in what transpired to be a gender row controversy in the French capital city.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won gold medal in women’s 66kg category and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting won gold in women’s 57kg category. Both the boxers faced backlash for their participation during the Summer Games, but received the backing of the IOC.
The IBA, which has been banished by the IOC for its failure to deal with financial irregularities, cited the executive order of United States president Donald Trump on transgender in their file suit to justify the criminal complaints against IOC.
“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 IBA said in its statement. The disbanded international sports body also added that it will file similar suits with the Attorneys General of France and the USA.
The IBA has advocated to counsel women boxers in their potential fight against the senior IOC officials, including president Thomas Bach.
“President Trump’s order to ban transgender athletes from women’s sport validates IBA’s efforts to protect the integrity of female sports,” said the boxing body’s president Umar Kremlev on Monday.
This extends the tussle between the two sporting administrations for more than a year. The IOC was managing the boxing events at the last two editions in Tokyo and Paris after banishing the IBA in June 2023.
Both Khelif and Lin were banned by the IBA in the 2023 World Championships, which was also hosted by them in India. The reason to ban the two boxers was failing the gender tests during the event.
However, IOC maintained the stance that both boxers had complied the competition rules and were eligible to participate in the prestigious event. The solid reason justified to back their participation was that both Imane and Lion participated in the Tokyo Olympics, but couldn’t bag a medal there.
Trump’s Executive Order
According to news agency Associatied Press, Trump has frequently misgendered the boxers as men and last Wednesday at the White House spoke without evidence of “two women or two people that transitioned and both of them won gold medals.” Trump signed the executive order, titled Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’, which aims to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.
The next Summer Games come to Los Angeles in July 2028, during Trump’s presidential term, and he urged the IOC last week to change everything “having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject.
(With inputs from Associated Press)
The International Boxing Association (IBA) is suing the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over the participation of two transgender boxers, Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, at the Paris Olympics. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
