The World Boxing Championship has lost participants: why French boxers did not pass the testing.

According to The Sun: The women's boxing qualifying tournament has undergone serious changes due to the ban on the participation of several athletes.

The situation arose after the scandal involving Iman Kellif that occurred just before the 2024 Olympics. The new governing body 'World Boxing' has introduced strict gender testing procedures.

AP

However, it is worth noting that such testing has been banned in France since 1994.

The French boxers were unable to undergo these procedures until they arrived in England for the tournament in Liverpool, which starts on Thursday.

This delay led to their failure to meet the deadlines set by World Boxing, which caused outrage from the French Boxing Federation.

Not only did the French team find itself in this situation, as five athletes lost the opportunity to participate in the first tournament with 540 boxers.

“With great surprise and outrage, the French team learned that women boxers would not be able to compete in the first world championships organized by World Boxing.”

“Despite the guarantees given to us by World Boxing, the laboratory they recommended finished the results too late.”

“Thus, our athletes, as well as athletes from other countries, found themselves trapped and were excluded.”

Melis Rishol, one of the boxers weighing 65 kg who will not be able to participate, noted: “After a year of effort we find ourselves excluded not for sporting reasons, but due to terrible and unfair management.”

“It is very hard to accept.”

“World Boxing” has become a new beginning for amateur boxing after numerous scandals related to corruption in the previous AIBA leadership.

The organization explained why its policy is better for the sport:

“As World Boxing first announced its intention to introduce mandatory gender testing, they clearly stated that the responsibility for testing lies with the national federations.”

“It is very regrettable for the boxers that some national federations were unable to complete this process on time, causing some athletes to miss the registration process for the championships.”

A representative of World Boxing emphasized:

“We regret that some boxers were unable to meet the testing result deadlines, but the rules and deadlines were publicized.”

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This situation highlights the necessity of more careful planning and communication between international sports organizations and national federations. Unforeseen circumstances, such as laboratories being unable to provide results on time, can have serious consequences for athletes. The boxers from France who lost the opportunity to compete in important competitions are now hoping for improvements in the future to avoid a recurrence of such situations.