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Daily Mail
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
ITV accused of 'censoring' tennis icon Martina Navratilova over Imane Khelif social media post amid leaked medical report
ITV has been accused of 'censoring' tennis legend Martina Navratilova for referring to Algerian boxing champion Imane Khelif as male rather than female, according to reports. Khelif was at the centre of a bitter storm during last year's Olympics, with controversy over the 25-year-old and Taiwan 's Lin Yu-ting 's participation at the Games. Both boxers had been disqualified from the 2023 World Championships run by the International Boxing Association (IBA), the former governing body for the sport. World Boxing, who are now the governing body for the sport, announced on last week that it will introduce mandatory sex testing for male and female boxers who want to take part in competitions, naming Khelif as a fighter who would need to undergo testing before taking part in this month's Eindhoven Box Cup. Covering the decision to name Khelif as part of their announcement, ITV shared an article headlined 'Naming Imane Khelif has caused "immeasurable psychological damage"' on the subject to social media site X, which was commented on by Navratilova. As per Telegraph Sport, the former tennis professional wrote under the original post: 'But a male beating the crap out of women is not too bad, apparently'. This comment, among others, was marked as 'hidden' by ITV news, meaning that users had to click through to view the post. It is thought to have been reinstated after user complaints, but dozens of other comments referring to Khelif's gender as male remain hidden under the tweet. Via the outlet, Fiona McAnena, the director of campaigns at the women's rights charity Sex Matters, called for an apology from the broadcaster. 'It's shocking that the UK's largest commercial broadcast network has censored hundreds of gender-critical comments on social media, many of them simply referring to Imane Khelif as male,' McAnena said. 'Hiding a simple truth about a major news story is a remarkable failure by a journalistic organisation. 'It's scandalous that ITV hid a reply from tennis legend Martina Navratilova, which they reinstated after an outcry. But what of the hundreds of other replies that remain censored, some of which do nothing but quote JK Rowling about the boxing row? 'ITV cannot simply dismiss this as a social media storm. Unless ITV's leadership apologises for hiding factual comments from the public, it will damage its credibility as a respected news organisation.' An ITV source has claimed that the broadcaster uses an automated moderation system, and ITV has separately denied that Navratilova's comment was hidden deliberately. Navratilova has previously been an outspoken critic of Khelif and the policies that she believes have allowed her to compete in women's sports unlawfully. Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships by the International Boxing Association - the previous world governing body - for allegedly failing elgibility tests. An report on the medical test allegedly seen by 3 Wire Sports said that 'chromsome analysis reveals male karotype' - an XY chromosome pair. Khelif was deemed eligible to compete in France despite World Boxing having more than a year's previous knowledge about the test, with IOC president Thomas Bach previously questioning the test's legitimacy. The cases of Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting caused much debate before, during, and after their run to Olympic gold medals. 'This is not a transgender case, this is about a woman taking part in a women's competition,' IOC president Thomas Bach said in a corrected statement at the time. Khelif's father produced an alleged birth certificate during the Olympics which recorded the boxer as female. World Boxing have since apologised for naming Khelif in their statement discussing their new gender testing policy, with Algerian boxing officials stressing that doing so had taken away Khelif's 'right to defend herself'. Khelif is now set to skip the Eindhoven Box Cup this month after missing the registration deadline.
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First Post
05-06-2025
- Sport
- First Post
Algerian federation hits back after World Boxing names Imane Khelif in new sex-testing rule
World Boxing has issued a formal apology to the Algerian Boxing Federation for naming Olympic champion Imane Khelif in its statement on new mandatory sex testing rules. The Algerian federation has hit back saying that this caused psychological harm to the boxer and violated her right. read more World Boxing has apologised to the Algerian Boxing Federation after it named Algerian boxer in a statement about a new sex-testing rule. The global body had earlier said that all male and female boxers must take a gender test if they want to take part in its competitions. Khelif, the 2024 Olympic gold medalist, was mentioned in the announcement as someone who would need to take the test before the Eindhoven Box Cup, which is happening from 5 June to 10 June in the Netherlands. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'In light of plans to introduce this policy and the particular circumstances surrounding some boxers that competed at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, World Boxing has written to the Algerian Boxing Federation to inform it that Imane Khelif will not be allowed to participate in the female category at the Eindhoven Box Cup or any World Boxing event until Imane Khelif undergoes sex testing,' the statement from the World Boxing read. World Boxing apologises But after criticism from Algeria, World Boxing admitted it was wrong to name her. The global body wrote a letter to the President of the Algerian Boxing Federation to offer a formal apology. 'As part of this statement, World Boxing identified a specific individual by name. World Boxing recognises that it should not have named the person and, as a result, the President of World Boxing has written personally to the President of the Algerian Boxing Federation to offer a formal and sincere apology which acknowledges that greater effort should have been made to avoid linking the policy to any individual,' World Boxing said in its follow-up statement. Algerian federation hits back The Algerian Boxing Federation is reportedly angry with World Boxing. They have said that naming Khelif 'created psychological damage to our athlete.' They also said that she has the 'right to defend herself' and added that 'consequences are immeasurable.' Meanwhile, a leaked medical report from 2023 claimed Khelif was 'biologically male.' It said her chromosomes showed a male pattern (XY). This has led to more public debate, including calls from people like JK Rowling to take away her Olympic gold medal. However, World Boxing said that past results of boxers will not be reviewed. This is the not the first time Khelif has come under the light. She and along with Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting, was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships by World Boxing's predecessor International Boxing Association (IBA) for allegedly failing gender eligibility tests. Despite this, Khelif was allowed by the new governing body to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which created a lot of controversy at the time. She went on to win the gold medal in the women's 66 kg boxing event. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
The Irish Sun
05-06-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Gender row Olympic champion Imane Khelif skips tournament days after World Boxing announce mandatory sex testing
IMANE KHELIF will SKIP the Eindhoven Box Cup just a week after World Boxing announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes. The Algerian, along with Taiwan's Lin Yu-Ting, was the focal point of an explosive gender row that dominated the 2024 Olympics in Paris last summer . Advertisement 1 Olympic champion Imane Khelif will skip the Eindhoven Box Cup Credit: AFP Khelif fought at the Games 18 months after being banned from competing at the Women's World Championships for allegedly failing a gender eligibility test. The alleged test administered by the International Boxing Association is said to have determined that Khelif and Yu-Ting have male XY chromosomes. The pair, however, were permitted to compete by the IOC because of their female passport statuses, to the fury of many. Less than a year after the scandal, World Boxing announced all participants in competitions under their jurisdiction will have to undergo sex testing. Advertisement READ MORE IN BOXING And Khelif won't be in action at their first event since the announcement in Eindhoven having missed the deadline to register. Eindhoven Cup media director Dirk Renders said: "The decision of Imane's exclusion is not ours. We regret it. Mayor of Eindhoven Joren Dijsselbloem has blasted World Boxing's decision to implement mandatory sex testing. In a letter to the Dutch Boxing Federation and the International Boxing Federation, he said: "As far as we are concerned, all athletes are welcome in Eindhoven. Advertisement Most read in Boxing "Excluding athletes based on controversial 'gender tests' certainly does not fit in with that. "We are expressing our disapproval of this decision today and are calling on the organization to admit Imane Khelif after all." THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY.. The Sun is your go to destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video . Like us on Facebook at Advertisement
The Sun
05-06-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Why Imane Khelif is likely to KEEP Olympic gold medal despite leaked document ‘proving boxer is biological male'
IMANE KHEIF is likely to KEEP the Olympic gold medal - despite being hit with fresh accusations of being a biological male. Khelif won gold for Algeria at the Paris Games in 2024 - a year after being banned from International Boxing Association competition. 1 In 2023, the IBA banned Khelif after tests taken in New Delhi allegedly produced the DNA of a 'male'. The IOC - who replaced the IBA as the Olympic's boxing governing body - were warned about the tests and urged to remove Khelif from the competition. But Khelif was allowed to box in Paris because of her female passport status. Since then, the alleged sex-test results from the 2023 World Championships have been published for the first time by 3 Wire Sports. The medical report appears to indicate that the boxer is biologically male. American journalist Alan Abrahamson produced the result of a test said to have been carried out on the boxer in New Delhi in March 2023 - which triggered the boxer's disqualification. The document published summarises the findings on Khelif as 'abnormal', stating: 'Chromosome analysis reveals male karyotype." A karyotype refers to an individual's complete set of chromosomes, which in Khelif's case has been reported by (IBA) as being XY, the male pattern. The leaked medical reports have sparked calls for Khelif to be stripped of the gold medal she won in the women's 66 kg category. However, Doraine Lambelet Coleman - a Thomas L. Perkins Distinguished Professor of Laws at Duke Law School - explained why that is unlikely. Trump rips into boxer Imane Khelif about controversial Olympics win against Angela Carini The legal expert told Newsweek: "The IOC would not revoke medals won by athletes who were eligible according to the rules it set for the boxing competition in Paris. "Unlike the eligibility rules set by the IBA and now World Boxing, those rules did not require competitors to be biologically female." The alleged test results carry the letterhead of Dr Lal PathLabs in New Delhi, accredited by the American College of Pathologists and certified by the Swiss-based International Organisation for Standardisation. This directly challenges what IOC spokesman Mark Adams said in a tense news conference at the Paris Olympics. He described the results that saw Khelif banned as 'ad hoc' and 'not legitimate'. IOC president Thomas Bach even claimed that the results are the product of a Russian-led misinformation campaign. It followed after the IBA - headed by Russia's Umar Kremlev - had been stripped of IOC recognition in a row over ethics and financial management. Khelif has always denied being a biological male and even named JK Rowling and Elon Musk in a cyberbullying lawsuit. And the 26-year-old has vowed to fight on, even eyeing another gold at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. 'Silence is no longer an option' But World Boxing has ruled that Khelif is ineligible to enter future events as a woman without first submitting to the same chromosome testing that has already triggered the boxer's disqualification at global level. The governing body - provisionally approved to run Olympic boxing in LA - announced that all athletes in its competitions over 18 years old must undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genetic test to determine their sex. The test detects chromosomal material through a mouth swab, saliva or blood. Khelif has failed to provide any evidence of having female chromosomes in the nine months since the gender scandal erupted. In February, Khelif spoke out in her defence and wrote: 'For two years, I have taken the high road while my name and image have been used, unauthorised, to further personal and political agendas through the spreading and dissemination of baseless lies and misinformation. But silence is no longer an option. 'The IBA, an organisation that I am no longer associated with and which is no longer recognised by the IOC, have again made baseless accusations that are false and offensive, using them to further their agenda. "This is a matter that concerns not just me but the broader principles of fairness and due process in sport. 'My team is carefully reviewing the situation and will take all necessary legal steps to ensure that my rights and the principles of fair competition are upheld. "Those responsible for these actions must be held accountable, and we will pursue all legal avenues to ensure that justice prevails.' An IOC spokesperson told Sun Sport: "The IOC has always made it clear that eligibility criteria are the responsibility of the respective International Federation. "The factors that matter to sports performance are unique to each sport, discipline, and/or event. "We await the full details how sex testing will be implemented in a safe, fair and legally enforceable way."
Time Magazine
05-06-2025
- Sport
- Time Magazine
World Boxing Apologizes to Imane Khelif After Announcing New Sex-Testing Policy
When Algerian boxer Imane Khelif competed in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, she wasn't just fighting her opponents in the ring, she was also fighting persistent accusations that she wasn't supposed to be there at all. Amid the controversy sparked by critics accusing her of being a man, Khelif ultimately took home the gold medal in the women's welterweight category. Khelif wasn't the only boxer to face accusations of competing in the wrong group: Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, who ultimately won gold in the women's featherweight category, also had her gender questioned by figures including Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. The International Boxing Association, which had been suspended from overseeing the sport due to concerns about governance and integrity, only made matters more complicated by holding a 'chaotic' press conference mid-tournament that left onlookers with more questions than answers—and wondering if boxing would even be a part of future Olympics, which will be hosted by Los Angeles in 2028. Since then, however, World Boxing, a new governing body formed in response to the concerns surrounding the IBA, was provisionally approved to oversee the sport's inclusion in the Olympics. And among its first priorities, World Boxing cofounder and president Boris van der Vorst said earlier this year, would be to come up with a policy to settle the highly contentious matter of gender eligibility. Already, it's apologizing. After a May 30 announcement of mandatory sex testing for any boxer who wishes to compete officially in any of the matches it organizes, World Boxing issued a follow-up statement to apologize for naming Khelif, acknowledging that 'greater effort should have been made to avoid linking the policy to any individual.' The initial announcement, outlining a new 'Sex, Age and Weight' policy designed 'to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women,' said that Khelif would be barred from competing in the female category of the Eindhoven Box Cup, which runs from June 5 to June 10, as well as any other World Boxing event until she undergoes mandatory sex testing. The wider policy is stated to begin July 1, but World Boxing said that it has the authority to make any athlete whose sex certification is 'challenged' by the athlete's federation or World Boxing 'ineligible to compete until the dispute is resolved.' The announcement said its decision to ban Khelif, who hasn't officially competed in the ring since Paris, from fighting until she undergoes testing 'reflects concerns over the safety and wellbeing of all boxers, including Imane Khelif, and aims to protect the mental and physical health of all participants in light of some of the reactions that have been expressed in relation to the boxer's potential participation.' It added that the decision 'is not deemed to in any way pre-judge the outcome of any testing.' Here's what to know. How World Boxing plans to test athletes' sex Under its new policy, all athletes over the age of 18 who wish to compete in a World Boxing event will need to undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genetic test to assess their eligibility. The test, according to World Boxing, can be conducted via nasal or mouth swab, saliva, or blood. A PCR test can be used to determine one's sex—specifically, the presence of Y chromosome genetic material. The Y chromosome is generally present in those assigned male at birth and generally absent in those assigned female, though intersex people can have a mixture of X and Y sex chromosomes that do not fall under the XY or XX binary, sometimes referred to as a difference of sexual development (DSD). An athlete will be deemed eligible for the male category based on the presence of Y chromosome genetic material or a DSD in which male androgenization— defined by the American Psychological Association as 'the masculinizing effect of androgens, especially testosterone, on body tissues and organs.' If only a pair of XX chromosomes are found, or a DSD in which androgenization does not occur, the athlete will be considered eligible to compete in the female category. National federations will be responsible for testing and confirming the sex of their athletes, and failure to provide certification of the PCR test or provision of a false certification will result in ineligibility and potential sanctions. 'Support will be offered to any boxers that provide an adverse test result,' the policy announcement adds, noting that it will also include an appeals process. For an athlete who wants to compete in the female category but is found to have Y chromosome genetic material or a disqualifying DSD, 'the initial screenings will be referred to independent clinical specialists for genetic screening, hormonal profiles, anatomical examination or other valuation of endocrine profiles by medical specialists.' While supporters of greater sex-eligibility testing in sports often cite safety as a concern, especially in contact sports like boxing—males tend to have greater muscle mass and arm length than females—some medical experts have argued that attempting to regulate sports based on biological tests for sex differences, which are the basis for most but not all people's identified gender, can be problematic and contribute to stigma and discrimination. What to know about Imane Khelif Van der Vorst contacted the Algerian Boxing Federation directly to apologize for naming Khelif in the policy announcement, which has only put further scrutiny on the Algerian boxer, who has identified and competed as a woman her whole life. 'I am a woman like any other woman. I was born a woman, I lived as a woman and I competed as a woman,' Khelif said in Paris. 'I am writing to you all personally to offer a formal and sincere apology for this and acknowledge that her privacy should have been protected,' Vorst wrote in a letter seen by the Associated Press, adding that by 'reaching out to you personally we show our true respect to you and your athletes.' As of June 5, Khelif has not yet publicly commented on World Boxing's new policy or apology—though the 26-year-old UNICEF ambassador is now facing a fresh wave of attacks, including calls to strip her of her Olympic gold medal. On June 1, 3 Wire Sports—an independent outlet by longtime Olympics reporter Alan Abrahamson— reported the purported results for Khelif of two chromosome tests from 2022 and 2023. U.K. newspaper the Telegraph summarized the report with the headline: 'Leaked medical report 'proves Imane Khelif is biological male''—which quickly circulated on social media among conservatives who had criticized Khelif's eligibility during the Olympics. According to the 3 Wire Sports report, Khelif's DNA showed XY markers with 'male' karyotype. TIME could not independently verify the test results. English broadcaster Piers Morgan posted on X: 'The biology-denying woke brigade abused and shamed me for saying it was outrageous and dangerous for Khelif to be beating up women at the Olympics. I'm ready for their apology, but won't hold my breath.' American activist Riley Gaines, who campaigns against transgender athletes' participation in women's sports, posted: 'To all the people that insisted Imane Khelif was a woman because his passport said so, You were wrong. We were right. Sincerely, People with functioning eyes and a shred of honesty.' During the Paris Olympics, the International Olympic Committee—which oversaw the sport in the absence of a boxing governing body—slammed suggestions of Khelif being male as disinformation. IOC representatives said that Khelif had met the committee's eligibility criteria and that tests the discredited IBA claimed to have that showed otherwise were 'flawed' and 'not legitimate' and part of a politically motivated 'cultural war.' In August, Khelif filed a criminal cyberbullying complaint in France against her detractors, while in February the IBA said it was taking legal action in Switzerland, France, and the U.S. against the IOC for allowing Khelif and Yu-ting to compete. Khelif responded at the time that the accusations of her ineligibility were 'false and offensive.' She said that her 'name and image have been used, unauthorized, to further personal and political agendas through the spreading and dissemination of baseless lies and misinformation,' adding: 'I am not going anywhere. I will fight in the ring, I will fight in the courts, and I will fight in the public eye until the truth is undeniable.'
