Controversial boxer Imane Khelif refutes retirement rumours, but skips World Championships as sex test is made mandatory

Paris Olympics gold medallist boxer, Imane Khelif, who has often found herself in the middle of controversy regarding her gender, has refuted retirement rumours that started after an interview given by her former manager. Kehlif’s former manager, Nasser Yesfah, sparked her retirement rumours after he stated in an interview that the Algerian boxer has “left the world of boxing.”

Yesfah later clarified that he was talking about Khelif leaving the Nice Azur club, but the retirement rumours had already started spreading like wildfire.

Khelif slams rumours about her retirement

Taking note of the social media chatter, the 26-year-old boxer accused Yesfah of betraying her trust and Alegria’s, as she clarified that she refuted the retirement news.

“It is based solely on statements made by a person who no longer represents me in any way, and whom I consider to have betrayed my trust and my country with his false and malicious statements,” Khelif wrote on social media.

“I have never announced my retirement from boxing. I remain committed to my sporting career, training regularly and maintaining my physical fitness between Algeria and Qatar in preparation for upcoming events.”

However, Khelif has not fought officially since winning the women’s 66 kg boxing gold at the Paris Olympics after her participation sparked a gender row. Khelif was disqualified from the International Boxing Association (IBA) organised 2023 World Championships after she allegedly failed to meet gender-eligibility criteria.

The International Olympic Committee, however, allowed her to take part in the Paris Olympics based on her passport and residency as a woman in Algeria, while it also suspended the world boxing body IBA for corruption and lack of transparency.

Kehlif was expected to take part in the World Championships in Liverpool next month, but she has not registered her name for the event. The new governing body, World Boxing, had this week said that women boxers will have to undergo mandatory sex testing, as part of its new eligibility policy.

Khelif pulls out of World C’ships where sex test is made mandatory

The 26-year-old has repeatedly said she was born a woman and in March said she would defend her title at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

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The boxer in the women’s category will have to undergo a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) or functional medical equivalent genetic screening test to confirm their eligibility. These tests can be conducted by nasal/mouth swab, saliva or blood.

Athletes who will be considered male at birth, as identified by the presence of Y chromosome material (the SRY gene) or with a difference of sexual development (DSD) involving male androgenization, will be eligible to compete in the men’s category.

While Khelif has pulled out, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who was also at the centre of the gender-eligibility dispute at the Paris Games, is set to take part in the World Championships.

“Lin Yu-ting just returned from training in South Korea and we are waiting for notification from the Taiwan boxing governing body for sign-up details while preparing for the 2025 Boxing World Championships,” her coach Tseng Tzu-chiang told Reuters.

“She has not considered withdrawing from the competition because of the new gender tests. We will submit all the relevant documents requested by the organisers, as part of normal procedures.”

Kehlif has repeatedly in the past said that she was born a woman and that she would defend her Olympic gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.