Imane Khelif to return to the ring for boxing semi-finals today amid gender row after ex-IBA official calls her ‘male’

Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer at the centre of a gender row, will face Thailand's Janjaem Suwannapheng today for the women's 66-kilogram semifinals at Roland Garros. Imane Khelif's victory over Hungary's Anna Luca Hamori in the quarterfinals confirmed at least a bronze medal for the controversial boxer. The final round of boxing for a gold medal is scheduled for Friday.

The 25-year-old boxer won her opening bout on Thursday, August 1, against Italy's Angela Carini, following which a “gender controversy” erupted. This was compounded by bitter attacks online. Her opponent abandoned the fight after just 46 seconds in the ring.

Imane Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting have been making headlines for their gender identity and regulations in sports. The two participants at the Paris Olympics were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships after a sex chromosome test ruled both of them ineligible.

According to the IOC, the two participants will stay in the competition for as long as they keep winning because they meet all eligibility criteria.

The decision was made by the International Boxing Association (IOB). However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped the IBA of its status as the global governing organisation for the sport.

On Monday, Algeria's Olympic Committee refuted the IOB's "baseless claims" after the latter alleged that the Algerian boxer in the semi-finals of the Paris women's competition was "a male".

Former chairman of the IBA's medical committee, Ioannis Filippatos, alleged that "abnormalities" were detected in blood tests of both boxers in 2022 and said, "The medical result, blood result, looks -- and the laboratory says -- that this boxer is male," reported AFP. He added, "The problem is that we have two blood exams with karyotype of male. This is the answer from the laboratory."

Meanwhile, the IBA's secretary general and CEO Chris Roberts claimed that the Olympic committees of Algeria and Taiwan wrote letters to the Association asking them to refrain from disclosing information about the boxers at the news conference in Paris.

(With agency inputs)