Statement from World Boxing following reports in the French media about French female boxers at the World Boxing Championships
“World Boxing’s policy on gender eligibility, which includes mandatory sex testing, is designed to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field.
“Since World Boxing first announced (May 30, 2025) its intention to introduce mandatory sex testing to determine the chromosomal sex of a male or female at birth, the organization has made it clear that testing will be the responsibility of National Federations (NFs) as they have the closest links and most access to their boxers and are best placed to manage the testing process. They also oversee the entry process for boxers to know which boxers need to be tested and when.
“It is very disappointing for the boxers that some National Federations have not been able to complete this process in time which means that some athletes have not made it through the sports entry process for the World Boxing Championships.
“World Boxing does not comment on individual cases and is completely focused on delivering a successful World Boxing Championships for the 540 boxers (327 men and 213 women) that have successfully passed through the sport entry process, making this the biggest ever boxing event ever held in the UK and one of the largest of all time anywhere in the world.
“We wish all of the boxers the very best of luck and look forward to working with our partners to deliver a world class competition that will provide a fantastic showcase for the sport of Olympic-style boxing.”
Background information:
• In a statement on May 30, 2025, World Boxing made it clear that NFs will be responsible for testing and will be required to confirm the sex of their athletes when entering them into World Boxing competitions by providing a certification of their chromosomal sex, as determined by a PCR test
• July 22, 2025, World Boxing sent a letter to all NFs stating that all female athletes that wanted to compete in the WBC2025 will have to produce certified test result of their chromosomal sex, as determined by a PCR test. Female athletes that cannot provide certified test results of their sex will not be eligible to participate in the competition and will not make it through the sport entry process
• In the letter, NFs were advised to begin the testing process straight away and provided with advice on the type of testing required, advice on the types of laboratories they could use for testing, the timelines traditionally associated with this type of testing and budgetary considerations and the important of prioritizing female athlete
• On August 21, 2025, all National Federations were sent a survey reminding them of the policy. This note stated: “Please Note: Receiving results for sex-testing can take 48-hours. Any tests completed later than September 1 would jeopardize your athlete’s entry into the Official Draw and Competition. Please consider your arrival time to the UK if you require sex-testing in the UK.
• World Boxing and its partners has been working with multiple National Federations over the last three weeks to facilitate access to testing facilities at several locations in Great Britain and many boxers that are competing at the competition have been tested via this process
*Editor’s Note: The entire French female boxing delegation has been barred from competing in the World Championships in Liverpool, England due to their genetic testing results not being received on time. The French delegation were assured their test results would be available within 24 hours, but they were not. Thus, the French female delegation was barred from today’s opening round of the tournament.
