Algerian fighter Imane Khelif has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over World Boxing's decision to bar her from its events without a preliminary genetic sex test.
A court statement said an appeal was filed by Khelif on 5 August seeking to overturn a decision by World Boxing blocking her participation in the Box Cup in Eindhoven or any of their events until she had undergone genetic sex testing, which has been mandated for all female boxers as part of World Boxing's new eligibility policy.
The appeal also seeks a declaration from CAS that Khelif is eligible to participate without a test in the upcoming World Boxing Championships in Liverpool between 4 and 14 September.
The court statement said a request to suspend World Boxing’s decision to bar Khelif until the case is heard was dismissed on Monday.
Written submissions are being exchanged between the parties, the court statement said, and a hearing will be scheduled with their agreement.
Khelif won Olympic women’s welterweight gold in Paris last summer having been cleared to compete by the International Olympic Committee, despite the International Boxing Association having banned her from the previous year’s World Championships for allegedly failing to meet gender eligibility criteria.
After her gold medal victory, Khelif said: "I am fully qualified to take part in this competition – I am a woman.
"I was born a woman, I’ve lived as a woman and I’ve competed as a woman. There’s no doubt that there are enemies of success, and that gives my success a special taste because of these attacks."
Lin Yu-ting, the other Olympic champion at the centre of a gender dispute last year, has no plans to skip the World Championships and would submit to the tests, her coach Tseng Tzu-chiang has suggested.
"Lin Yu-ting just returned from training in South Korea and we are waiting for notification from the Taiwan boxing governing body for signup details while preparing for the 2025 Boxing World Championships," Tseng said last month.
"She has not considered withdrawing from the competition because of the new gender tests. We will submit all the relevant documents requested by the organisers, as part of normal procedures."
