(LifeSiteNews) — Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association (IBA), has called for Algerian boxer Imane Khelif to return an Olympic medal, citing gender testing concerns. Khelif was the center of controversy during the Olympic games after allegations arose that the purportedly female boxer had in fact failed two gender tests in 2022 and 2023. The IBA had banned Khelif from women’s events after the tests indicated the athlete had XY chromosomes.

Kremlev expressed his outrage that Khelif was allowed to compete as a woman in the Olympic games. Speaking to the Daily Mail for an article published yesterday, June 25, Kremlev accused the International Olympic Committee (IOC)  of championing political interests over sport fairness.

“There is a lot of corruption surrounding the IOC, and many violations of good sporting principles,” Kremlev said. “The IOC is not fighting for the fairness in sport. The IOC is giving away medals based on their political interests. Imane Khelif should be made to return the Olympic medal from Paris.”

Kremlev then described the gender tests conducted by the IBA on Khelif.

After encountering some “suspicious moments” regarding Khelif’s gender, the IBA conducted their first test in 2022; it yielded “abnormal results.” Kremlev admitted that the IBA had never come across a situation like this, so they decided to conduct another test in 2023.

“That second test was done in 2023 and confirmed the same findings as the first. Both tests showed XY chromosomes,” he stated.

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The IOC has called the validity of these tests into question.

IOC spokesperson Mark Adams pronounced these tests “not legitimate”.

“The tests themselves, the process of the tests, the ad hoc nature of the tests are not legitimate,” he said in a 2024 conference.

Kremlev has advocated for mandatory gender testing before competitions — a proposal that could reignite global debate on privacy and fairness in sports.

“There should be one rule that everyone follows. Gender testing before every event. That’s the only way to make sure the fight is fair,” he stated.

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