PARIS – The International Olympic Committee has condemned and dismissed chromosome tests carried out by the International Boxing Association in 2022 and 2023 that disqualified boxers Imane Khelif of Algeria and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting from international competition.

Both Khelif and Lin continue to battle in the 2024 Olympics, with both supporters and critics – including from the Olympic community – increasing in volume.

On Saturday, 3 Wire Sports reported that the IBA had sent a letter to the IOC in June 2023 indicating that Khelif’s “DNA was that of a male consisting of XY chromosomes”, and included the lab reports from that test.

On Sunday morning, IOC spokesman Mark Adams acknowledged receipt of the IBA’s letter but condemned its content. “The tests themselves, the process of the tests, the ad hoc nature of the tests, are not legitimate,” Adams said. “I’m not going to discuss the individual intimate details of athletes in public, and I think it’s quite shameful for those who have leaked that material. … The way the material was shared is against legal, ethical and all other measures.”

Adams declined further comment on “a letter that was sent, the testing, the method of the testing, the idea of ​​the testing, which happened overnight. None of that is legitimate and therefore deserves no response, especially not in detail.”

The letter came just days before the IOC stripped the IBA of its recognition as boxing’s governing body over what the IOC has said were concerns over finances, refereeing and other irregularities. The IBA has continued to criticize the IOC on a range of issues, including the “inconsistent application of eligibility criteria by other sporting bodies, including those overseeing the Olympic Games”, the IBA said in a statement on July 31.

“The IOC’s different rules on these matters,” the statement continued, “where the IBA is not involved, raise serious questions about both competitive fairness and athlete safety.”

However, the IOC seems to take the position that any test, explanation or communication from the IBA is in fact fruit from a poisoned tree.

“There are a number of reasons why we’re not going to deal with this,” Adams said. “Partly confidentiality, partly medical issues, partly that there was no basis for the test in the first place, and partly data sharing of this is also strongly against the rules, international rules.”

Adams also sharply criticized the IBA as an organization. “Is it fair and right that two individuals should be targeted in this way and that we should make decisions in an arbitrary manner based on arbitrary decisions that have come before by a federation that, I will remind you, has been completely discredited?” he said.

“If you really believe,” he added, “that we should take everything they say or everything they send us with any grain of truth, then I think… you would be sadly mistaken.”

The IOC has replaced the IBA’s administration with a temporary governing body. Boxing’s participation in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles is by no means guaranteed, and regulatory uncertainty is a major reason.

On a larger scale, the IOC has consistently insisted that both boxers are women, both through biology and documentation. “We have two boxers who were born as a woman (sic), raised as a woman, who have passports as a woman and who have competed for many years as a woman,” IOC President Thomas Bach said on Saturday. “This is legally the definition of a woman. There was never any doubt that they were a woman.”

The IOC has relied heavily on the passport as the ultimate determinant of an athlete’s gender, but Adams allowed, in response to a question from Yahoo Sports, that there is a possibility that could change in the future.

“This is an ongoing debate; this is not just in boxing, says Adams. “A lot of federations use the same criteria, and it’s very difficult. As we’ve already mentioned, nobody wants to go back to the days of gender testing. I guess there will be discussion about this.”

For now, Lin and Imane will continue to fight. In fact, Lin guaranteed herself a medal when she defeated Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva by unanimous decision just minutes before the IOC’s press conference began. Khelif, also guaranteed a medal, will fight Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng on Tuesday in one of two women’s 66kg semi-finals.

The issues of justice, inclusion and safety will continue to swirl, now and for many years to come.

“This is not a subject where there is a simple black and white answer,” Adams said. “Should anyone, should anyone be able to come up with a scientific consensus, then we would be happy to work with that and to work with that consensus. Unfortunately, as you’ve seen over the last few days, there is no consensus.”