Imane Khelif: Olympic champion appeals to Cas over World Boxing’s decision to introduce genetic sex testing

Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport over a ruling which prevents the athlete fighting in the female category without a genetic sex test.

The Algerian has filed an appeal which is attempting to overturn a decision made by World Boxing in May to introduce mandatory testing for its competitions.

Khelif’s appeal also requested Cas declares the 26-year-old eligible for the 2025 World Boxing Championships from 4-14 September without a test.

However, Cas dismissed a request to suspend the execution of the decision by World Boxing until the case is heard.

In May, World Boxing said that “all athletes over the age of 18” who wish to participate in competitions it owns or sanctions will “need to undergo a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) genetic test to determine their sex at birth and their eligibility to compete”.

Shortly after that decision World Boxing apologised for naming Khelif in its announcement of mandatory sex testing.

Both parties are now exchanging written submissions and, with their agreement, a hearing will be scheduled by Cas in due course.

Khelif won women’s welterweight gold at the Paris Olympics last year amid a row over gender eligibility.

Khelif, along with Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting, was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships by previous world governing body the International Boxing Association (IBA) for allegedly failing gender eligibility tests.

Khelif was cleared to compete in Paris by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which stripped the IBA of its status as the sport’s amateur world governing body in June 2023 over concerns over how it was run.

The IOC said competitors were eligible for the women’s division in Paris if their passports said they were female and made it clear last year this is “not a transgender case”.

Khelif has always competed in the women’s division and there is no suggestion the Algerian identifies as anything other than a woman.

Some reports took the IBA stating that Khelif has XY chromosomes to speculate the athlete might have differences of sexual development (DSD) like runner Caster Semenya.

World Boxing was granted provisional recognition as the sport’s international governing federation by the IOC in February 2025.