Olympic gold medallist Imane Khelif has appealed to sport’s highest court over World Boxing’s decision to bar her from its events without a preliminary genetic sex test.
The appeal seeks to overturn the ruling and allow the Algerian female boxer to compete at the 2025 World Boxing Championships between 4 and 14 September without having the test, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said in a statement.
It added that a request to suspend World Boxing’s decision to bar Khelif until the case is heard was dismissed on Monday.
“The parties are currently exchanging written submissions and, with their agreement, a hearing will be scheduled,” CAS said.
Khelif filed her appeal against World Boxing’s decision to block her from any of their events until she has undergone genetic sex testing on 5 August, the court added.
The 26-year-old won Olympic women’s welterweight gold in Paris last summer having been cleared to compete by the International Olympic Committee.
This was despite the International Boxing Association having banned her from the previous year’s World Championships after saying sex chromosome tests had ruled her ineligible.
Khelif was able to compete in the women’s category in Paris after the International Olympic Committee stripped the IBA of its status as the sport’s governing body in 2023 and took control of organising boxing in Paris.
After her gold medal victory, Khelif said: “I am fully qualified to take part in this competition – I am a woman.
“I was born a woman, I’ve lived as a woman and I’ve competed as a woman. There’s no doubt that there are enemies of success, and that gives my success a special taste because of these attacks.”
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World Boxing, which will oversee the sport at the 2028 Olympics, introduced mandatory sex testing for all boxers in its competitions in May, adding that Khelif would not be allowed to compete until she underwent such a test.
World Boxing president Boris van der Vorst later apologised over Khelif being named in the announcement, saying her privacy should have been protected.
Khelif said in March that she will defend her title at the 2028 Olympics.
