France’s women boxers have been banned from the World Championships in Liverpool.
France’s women’s boxing team has been locked out of the ongoing World Championships in Liverpool after failing to submit mandatory genetic sex test results on time. The ruling sparked outrage from the French federation, which described the situation as unfair and humiliating.
World Boxing recently introduced a controversial policy requiring all women athletes to undergo genetic testing to confirm sex at birth. The French federation (FFBoxe) said the directive was both discriminatory and impossible to comply with under French law, which prohibits such testing.
To try and meet the requirement, the French team flew their five athletes to Leeds for tests. But just hours after the tournament began, FFBoxe confirmed the lab could not release the results before the deadline. This left the entire French squad disqualified. “Our athletes, as well as those from other countries, have been caught in this trap and excluded,” FFBoxe stated.
According to BBC Sport, 12 boxers in total have been sidelined, including athletes from Nigeria, Fiji, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic. World Boxing, however, shifted blame to the federations, saying they had been warned early enough and should have completed the process on time.
The ban has cast a shadow over the championships, which run from September 4 to 14. Critics argue the rule punishes athletes for administrative failings and risks undermining the credibility of World Boxing, which is seeking to assert its authority after breaking away from the International Boxing Association (IBA).
For the French fighters and others affected, the ruling is a crushing setback. But beyond individual disappointment, the policy raises bigger questions about governance, fairness, and the future of women’s sport in the face of increasingly complex eligibility rules.
