French women’s boxing team misses worlds over late tests.

France – (Special Correspondend / Web Desk) – The French women’s boxing team cannot compete in the World Championships. They were barred because their required gender test results arrived too late.

The event’s organizer, World Boxing, made a new rule. It said all female boxers must pass a genetic test to prove their sex to compete. This rule was announced just last month.

However, French law has banned these specific types of tests since 1994. Because of this law, the French team had to wait until they arrived in England to take the tests.

The five athletes took the tests right away at a lab approved by World Boxing. The French boxing federation said they were promised the results would be ready on time.

A World Boxing official stated the rules were clear and published in advance. They said they were sorry but the team missed the strict deadline.

The French team is very upset and angry about this decision. They said they learned the shocking news just the night before the tournament started.

The federation blames the laboratory that World Boxing itself recommended. They feel their athletes were caught in a trap due to the lab’s slow work. They believe athletes from other nations were also excluded for the same reason.

One of the barred boxers, Maelys Richol, shared her feelings. She said she feels immense frustration, anger, and deep disappointment. She and her team trained all year for this chance.

She is heartbroken that they were excluded not for sports, but for what she calls unfair and poor management. The new policy requires all fighters over 18 to take this genetic test.

This is another problem for the sport of boxing, which has faced many organizational issues. World Boxing is now in charge of organizing boxing for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

This debate about gender in sports became a major topic during the last Paris Olympics. Two boxers, Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, were at the center of a big controversy then.

A different group had banned them from its own world championship in 2023. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed them to compete in the Paris Games. The IOC called the previous ban a “sudden and arbitrary decision.” Both athletes won gold medals in Paris.

Now, boxer Imane Khelif is challenging World Boxing’s new genetic test rule in court. Neither she nor Lin Yu-ting are competing in the current championships in Liverpool.

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During the Olympics, both women faced very mean attacks and false rumors online. The IOC defended them, stating both were born and raised as women and have legal documents that confirm this.

The discussion about who can compete in women’s sports affects more than just boxing. It is also a big topic in sports like track and field and swimming.