STuPéfaction in the ring. This Wednesday, September 3, one week from the launch of the world boxing championships in Liverpool (England), the French team learned “with indignation” that it will not be able to participate in the competition. In question: an imbroglio around the femininity test to which sportsmen had to submit.
Behind this request: the World Boxing, the new International Boxing Federation, which now requires sportsmen over the age of 18 that they carry out a PCR genetic test to determine their sex at birth – depending on the result, they can (or not) participate in competitions overseen by the organization.
Prohibited by French law
In the case of the championships, it was asked on July 21 of participating boxers around the world to carry out this genetic test, in reaction to the controversies born at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024 around Imane Khelif and Yu-Ting linen. If the test is simple to perform, it is prohibited to make one in France. Indeed, since the bioethical law revised in 2021, such genetic examination can only be done for medical, judicial or scientific research purposes (or, in certain cases, of anti -doping survey), in certain laboratories authorized only.
The Ministry of Sports had thus indicated to the French Federation that “the case aimed at verifying the eligibility of athletes in application of a genetic sex criterion does not fall under any of these purposes. Its realization would therefore be prohibited in French law ”. To unlock the situation, the World Boxing had authorized Romane Moulai (- 48 kg), Wassila Lkhadiri (- 51 kg), Mélissa Bounoua (- 54 kg), Sthelyne Grosy (- 57 kg) and Maëlys Richol (- 65 kg), French boxers, to do their tests when they arrived in a accredited laboratory In Leeds, two hours from Liverpool.
The sportsmen submitted on Monday on the test on Monday, but the result was slow to arrive. As a result, Wednesday, World Boxing excluded them from the competition. In a press release, the French boxing federation expressed its anger, explaining that “the choice of this laboratory was justified by insurance, still according to World Boxing, to obtain results within the time limits. The International Federation, in fact, expressly said that by carrying out said tests on Monday, we would have the results within twenty-four hours and which we could therefore present them when registering our boxers. ” And to add having received the new “with amazement and indignation”.
What is the femininity test requested by the Federation?
The test generally consists of a saliva sample (in this case) or blood. The result gives rise to a chromosomal test (which determines the chromosomal sex of the person), hormonal (which measures the level of testosterone in the blood), or is done via a medical analysis based on physical examinations or medical history.
The first tests of this type in the world of sport date from the 1930s, and were at the origin of simple visual examinations – where a jury judged if, physically, an athlete had the characteristics he considered feminine. In 1966, while some international federations accused others of making men pass for women’s sportsmen, the Committee of the International Athletics Federation established a test of anatomical and gynecological femininity to control the sex of the competitors. Concretely, the sportswoman had to press a pear to determine her strength and her breath was measured.
From 1968, the evaluation of femininity involved chromosomal tests. It was not until 2009 that they became hormonal. Note that these tests are criticized, for the intrusion into the privacy they represent, but also for the discrimination that they establish towards certain women in the higher testosterone levels although born women.
Other sportsmen concerned
This test also put in difficulty the Taiwanese gold medalist during the Paris Lin Yu-Ting Olympic Games … Despite the fact that she carried out the femininity test, according to her coach.
To discover
The kangaroo of the day
Answer
Tricolore boxers are not the only ones concerned: the participants in the Tokyo athletics Worlds (September 13-21) must also submit to this test. And for them too, it is impossible to make it in France: they will have to have it done in Japan.
In addition, World Aquatics (the Swimming Federation), the International Cycling Union, World Rugby, and certain combat federations impose these tests. They are also requested in certain weightlifting competitions.
