The inevitable crisis in Olympic boxing
By Mauricio Sulaimán
President of the WBC – Son of José Sulaimán
The news that has flooded the networks and has tarnished the activity at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is regrettable, and is clearly exposing the crisis that amateur / Olympic style boxing is going through.
Two female boxers have been accused of being transgender, of having XY chromosomes (male), or some other condition, which when fighting against a woman, gives them an unfair competitive advantage.
The attacks and posts continue. The vast majority without having the minimum elements to express an informed and salient opinion. The central and most serious factor which should matter, is the integrity, safety and well being of the athletes.
The main conflict has been the media war between the IOC and IBA, which was the International Federation recognized by the same entity. They have taken center stage, by attacking each other, in a clear power struggle that will not solve the core issue.
Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting are the fighters in question. Without definitive evidence, they were apparently born XX (female), they are not trans, and apparently they were not born with Y chromosomes, but they do have a genetic condition that gives them significant physical advantages.
It is not the fault of Imane and Lin, who are suffering attacks, scorn and derision. Everything is being mixed up, from science and medicine, homophobia, sexism, human rights, laws, rules, and even abandonment of common sense to attack them.
The reality is that their rivals get into the ring taking unacceptable risks. Boxing is not a game, it is a contact sport.
All the problems started more than 15 years ago when AIBA, the International Amateur Boxing Federation, in charge of everything related to Olympic boxing, which was recognized by the IOC since the 1940s, elected Wu Ching-Ko as its president.
He introduced and lead a series of changes that were highly questionable at the time, and the IOC did nothing about it. AIBA chose the financial and commercial path, over the interests of the athletes; it became a promoter, manager and organization, with major and glaring conflicts of interest.
They removed the protective headgear and the most serious step was to allow and promote the participation of professionals in Olympic boxing.
Today the scandal focuses upon these two women boxers, but could very well be that there was a very powerful world champion against a young fighter, who is seeking the Olympic dream.
The IBA, formerly AIBA, lashed out at the IOC, and made public the disqualification of the two fighters from its competition, in 2023, alluding to the fact that they had XY chromosomes (Male). It was an attack that was evidently planned and kept secret until only a few days ago.
The IOC has dedicated itself to responding to them about the disqualification of these two fighters, citing discrimination and human rights factors.
Enough! The important thing here is to learn and know the reality. Do Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting have XY chromosomes, or the condition that gives them an advantage over their rivals? Yes or no?
If that is the case, then it is unquestionable that they have greater strength, endurance, speed, testosterone levels and muscle mass.
This gives them a great competitive advantage, eliminating fair play, and puts the health of their rivals at significant risk.
We are not talking about breaking a time record or scoring goals, we are talking about boxing, a contact sport, where the opponent can be hurt.
The WBC has fought against any type of discrimination since its creation. We have also carried out extensive studies and scientific research to create rules for women’s boxing, different from those for men. We studied and proposed the creation of a boxing program for trans athletes, and we will always have as an absolute priority the health and physical integrity of those who get into the ring, before, during and after the fights.
The reality is that Olympic boxing has not had governance since 2018-2019, when AIBA was suspended as a federation affiliated with the IOC and, eventually, expelled.
The Tokyo Olympics, like those in Paris, are being administered by an IOC committee, and not by an international boxing federation. The rules and eligibility processes remain the same as those established by AIBA at the end of Rio 2016, and that includes the fact that there is no parameter to measure the level of competition between fighters; that is, in theory Canelo could fight against a youngster in the Olympics. That’s not the ethos of taking part. Rather, it would be taking an opponent apart!
The WBC has absolutely rejected professionals in Olympic boxing until there is a clear definition of eligibility to achieve parity in the level of competition. In the professional arena, a debutant fights four rounds against boxers of that level, could not fight against an eight-rounder, 10-rounder or against a world champion. It’s that simple, clear and evident.
The IOC chose to attack the IBA and defend why Khelif and Yu-ting are participating, when in world opinion they should take proactive action, addressing the concern of the dangers of these fights in a timely manner.
The IOC is being attacked, but the vast majority have been malicious, and without having the slightest information about the situation.
There are procedures and the statutes are clear in the sense that the rules cannot be changed in the middle of the competition. Everything also gets complicated when other factors come into play such as human rights and codes of ethics.
Unfortunately, this was not addressed at the time and everything is the effect of the poor administration that our sport has had at the Olympic level during the last two decades. We pray to God that nothing regrettable happens in the remaining fights.
It is urgent that the affiliation with the IOC of a new International Federation in charge of boxing be made official. There is one called World Boxing (WB), it needs more countries to join it to be recognized by the IOC. WB is a reality, and it is the only option to save boxing and its permanence in the Olympic Games, since, as of today, it is out of Los Angeles 2028.
I appreciate your comments at contact@wbcboxing.com
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