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The French women’s boxing team will miss the World Boxing Championships after missing a genetic sex-test deadline.
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FFBoxe blamed a UK lab, while World Boxing faulted federations.
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The row fuels wider debates on fairness in sport.
The French women’s boxing team will miss the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool after failing to meet the deadline for mandatory genetic sex-test results, the French Boxing Federation (FFBoxe) confirmed.
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French law has banned such tests since 1994, so FFBoxe sent its athletes to a World Boxing–approved lab in the UK.
The lab failed to deliver results on time, shutting five French boxers out of the competition.
World Boxing insists national federations must organise testing and entries.
FFBoxe pushed back, blaming the recommended lab for the delay and calling the decision unfair.
French Sports Minister Marie Barsacq also weighed in, describing the ruling as “inadmissible.”
The new policy follows high-profile eligibility disputes.
Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting faced similar challenges at recent international events.
Khelif has already appealed World Boxing’s testing rules to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The controversy now stretches beyond boxing.
Athletics and swimming have also introduced stricter eligibility rules, sparking wider debates over fairness, privacy, and who should enforce testing.
