The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says eligibility will be determined by a “once-in-a-lifetime” sex test, which would prevent transgender women and those with differences in sexual development (DSD) who have gone through male puberty from competing.

It will take effect from the Los Angeles Olympics.

IOC president Kirsty Coventry said the policy was the result of a review “led by medical experts”.

“At the Olympic Games even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat,” she said.

“So it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.”

The IOC said eligibility for the female category would be determined by a screening to detect the SRY gene – the sex-determining region Y gene – which is part of the Y chromosome and causes male characteristics to develop.

“The IOC considers that SRY gene screening via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample is unintrusive compared to other possible methods,” it said.

The IOC said athletes who fail the test would “continue to be included in all other classifications for which they qualify. For example, they are eligible for any male category, including in a designated male slot within any mixed category, and any open category, or in sports and events that do not classify athletes by sex.”

Until this announcement, the IOC left sex eligibility regulations to the governing bodies of individual sports, rather than applying a universal approach.

While athletics, swimming, cycling and rowing have brought in bans, many others allowed transgender women to compete in female competition if they lowered their testosterone levels.

New Zealand Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender women to compete at an Olympics after being selected for the women’s weightlifting team at Tokyo 2020.

But by the Paris 2024 Games, there were not known to be any transgender women competing in female events.

There was, however, controversy in the boxing after Algeria’s Imane Khelif won the women’s welterweight boxing gold medal, a year after being disqualified from the World Championships for reportedly failing a gender eligibility test.

Some reports took the IBA saying Khelif has XY chromosomes to speculate that the fighter might have DSD. However, the BBC was not able to confirm whether this was or was not the case. Khelif has always insisted she is a woman and said earlier this year that she would take a sex test to compete at LA 2028.

The IOC launched a review shortly after the Games, and the ban will also apply almostall athletes with a DSD.

It is a rare condition in which a person’s hormones, genes and/or reproductive organs may be a mix of male and female characteristics.

Two-time Olympic women’s 800m champion Caster Semenya’s DSD means she has male XY chromosomes.

Previously, DSD athletes who had been through male puberty could compete in women’s sport, provided they kept their testosterone within certain levels.

There is an one exemption in the policy for DSD athletes with a rare condition – complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS), which means they have not gone through male puberty.

How the IOC reached its decision

The IOC said its working group reviewed the latest scientific evidence over the past 18 months, which it said showed a “clear consensus” that “male sex provides a performance advantage in all sports and events that rely on strength, power and endurance”.

It consulted a “wide range of experts in relevant fields” and an online athlete survey that had more than 1,100 responses.

Interviews were also conducted with “impacted athletes from around the world”.

The IOC said: “Feedback from the athlete consultation revealed that, although nuances exist across sex and gender, region and athlete status (active/retired), there was a strong consensus that fairness and safety in the female category required clear, science-based eligibility rules, and that protecting the female category is a common priority.”

The move does not apply to any grassroots or recreational sports programmes, and the IOC said the findings of any tests would not be applied retrospectively.

Coventry said: “Every athlete must be treated with dignity and respect, and athletes will need to be screened only once in their lifetime.

“There must be clear education around the process and counselling available, alongside expert medical advice.”

Reaction to the IOC decision

• A World Athletics spokesperson said: “We have led the way in protecting women’s sport over the last decade. Attracting and retaining more girls and women into sport requires a fair and level playing field where there is no biological glass ceiling. This means that gender cannot trump biology. A consistent approach across all sport has to be a good thing.”
• Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns for sex-based rights charity Sex Matters: “…the International Olympic Committee has finally done the right thing. Women have been cheated of medals and of fairness in sport for years. Males never should have been allowed into the women’s category, whether they’re beginners or elite, young or old.”
• Su Wong of the campaign group SEEN in Sport: “Protecting the female category doesn’t just matter for our Olympic athletes. It impacts ordinary women and girls who just want fair and safe sport. For over a decade, international and national sporting bodies have relied on IOC policy to justify males in the female category. This justification ends today.”
• Caster Semenya: “If the IOC had truly listened — if President Coventry had done what evidence-based policy demands — this policy would not exist. It does not smell of science. It smells of stigma. It was not born from care for athletes. It was born from political pressure. As a woman from Africa, I had hoped President Coventry would be different. I had hoped she would listen to all of us — not just the powerful, not just the comfortable. She had the chance. She failed us.”
• Professor Alun Williams, Sport and Exercise Genomics, Manchester Metropolitan University: “I am not surprised [by the decision] but I am disappointed. You’re using a sledge hammer to crack a nut – in terms of the problem. You do not need genetic tests to regulate the participation of transgender women athletes. You can do that through other means. This new policy can only be interpreted of targeting those that are recorded as female at birth with a Difference of Sex Development (DSD) but that have some elements of male-like characteristics perhaps in their genetics or in their biology.”
• LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall: “Sport has a unique power to bring people together, and the Olympics is always the epitome of this. Today’s decision will be one that stokes further division in our increasingly polarised world. Considerations of safety and fairness should always sit at the heart of sporting competition; but there will undoubtedly be an unintended ripple effect across community and grassroot sports, where many trans people, young and old, will hear the message they are unwelcome and that sport is not a place for them.”

Transgender and DSD athlete controversies

In recent years a growing number of sports federations, including World Aquatics and World Athletics, have barred athletes who have undergone male puberty from competing in elite female competition amid concerns over fairness and safety.

Last May the Football Association and England and Wales Cricket Board were among a number of British sports bodies to follow suit after the UK Supreme Court’s ruling that the legal definition of a woman was based on biological sex.

The moves have been opposed by trans rights campaigners who argue they could violate human rights, and insist inclusion should be prioritised.

However, this year US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that prevents transgender women from competing in female categories.

He said it would include the 2028 Olympics and that he would deny visas for transgender athletes trying to visit the US to compete at the Games.

At the 2020 games, Hubbard failed to record a successful lift in the women’s +87kg weightlifting.

Four year later, the IOC cleared 25-year-old Khelif to compete, along with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who was also banned by the suspended International Boxing Association (IBA).

The IOC said competitors were eligible for the women’s division if their passports said they were female.

Last week it was announced that Lin could return to women’s sport after passing a sex test.

At the 2016 Olympics in Rio, all three medallists in the women’s 800m, including winner Semenya, were DSD athletes, intensifying calls for tighter rules.

World Athletics then insisted that for track events from 400m up to the mile, DSD athletes must reduce their testosterone levels in order to be eligible.

Semenya refused, arguing it was an infringement of her human rights and discriminatory.

Amid a long legal battle, World Athletics’ made its rules stricter in 2023. Last year the governing body claimed that between 50 and 60 athletes who went through male puberty had been finalists in the female category in global and continental track and field championships since 2000.

The petition – delivered on Wednesday and with athletes among the signatories – comes as Italy’s Eni, one of the world’s seven biggest oil companies, is a ‘premium partner’ of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

It follows reports that the number of countries which could reliably host a Winter Olympics will hugely reduce in the future because of climate change.

Asked by the BBC whether she is disappointed by the Games having high-carbon sponsors, Coventry said: “It’s really nice athletes have a platform to speak up.

“The petition, I know they met with our team today and we are having conversations in order to be better, and for our stakeholders to be better. But that takes time.”

Christophe Dubi, the IOC executive director for the Olympic Games, added: “We make a point to receive those petitions, and we have to recognise climate is a challenge for all of us.

“What we have to do as an organisation is to be at the forefront of sustainability, and our principles are very clear.”

One area the IOC is aiming to make the Olympics more sustainable is having Games take place over a wider area with more pre-existing facilities, and Coventry said Milan-Cortina is an acid test for whether this is a viable future.

Milan-Cortina takes place in three hubs spread across northern Italy – in Milan, Cortina and Livigno – with only two newly built sporting facilities: the Santagiulia ice hockey arena and Cortina Sliding Centre.

The next two Winter Olympics – French Alps 2030 and Utah 2034 – will also have sports spread more widely, while the 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane is will have venues across Queensland.

This has caused issues however, with Brisbane organisers saying they will go beyond the originally stated budget of $4.9bn (£3.6bn).

“We are really experiencing a spread out Games here for the first time – we are going to learn a lot,” Coventry said.

“We have taken this decision for sustainability reasons, climate and not having to have new venues. We are seeing there is an impact on National Olympic Committees because of the spreadness [sic], also for broadcast and media, making it harder to get around.

“What is really cool is that you get to see iconic venues in beautiful places – but now we have to weigh this up, the balance between a spread games for sustainability reasons but not shifting complexity and sustainability to different areas.”

While the action got underway on Wednesday with the start of the curling events, the 2026 Winter Olympics will officially start with the opening ceremony on Friday.

Coventry said she hoped all nations would be treated with respect by spectators, including the USA team amid criticism from Italian authorities about the presence of ICE agents in Milan.

“I hope the opening ceremony is seen by everyone as a chance to be respectful,” she said.

“For me, when we went to the Olympic village that is the best reminder of how the Games should be. I hope the opening ceremony will do that.”

IOC president Kirsty Coventry vowed to bring in the policy as part of her election campaign, and set up a working group on the protection of women’s sport.

The IOC said that the review is “continuing its discussions on this topic and no decisions have been taken yet”.

However, after a presentation by its medical chief, sources have told BBC Sport told that a ban is likely to be introduced in 2026.

The chances of a similar change in approach over athletes with differences in sex development (DSD) is said to be less clear.

Last week, the IOC’s medical and scientific director Dr Jane Thornton updated its members as the organisation works through the details of the potential move.

As first reported by The Times, she revealed that initial findings of the science-based review suggested that athletes born male retain physiological advantages, even after reducing testosterone levels, fuelling expectations of a new policy.

BBC Sport has been told any blanket ban is unlikely to be introduced before the 2026 Winter Olympics, but could be brought in before the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

Back in March, former swimmer Coventry – a seven-time Olympic medallist – told BBC Sport that the IOC must “play a leading role” in discussions in this area, hinting at a major shift in approach.

The IOC has previously left sex eligibility regulations to the governing bodies of individual sports, rather than applying a universal approach, with many allowing transgender women athletes to compete in female competition if they lowered their testosterone levels.

After being elected, Coventry said a working group on the issue made up of experts and international federations would “ensure that we find consensus”.

She added that IOC members had shown “overwhelming support” to protecting the female category in sport.

Earlier this year, the president of the International Paralympic Committee said he is opposed to “blanket solutions” for transgender participation policies.

Transgender athletes in sport

In recent years a growing number of sports federations have barred athletes who have undergone male puberty from competing in elite female competition amid concerns over fairness and safety, including World Aquatics and World Athletics.

The moves have been opposed by trans rights campaigners who argue they could violate human rights, and insist inclusion should be prioritised.

This year, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that prevents transgender women from competing in female categories.

He said it would include the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and that he will deny visas for transgender athletes trying to visit the US to compete at the Games.

Previous controversy

New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender women to compete at an Olympics after being selected for the women’s weightlifting team at Tokyo 2020.

Hubbard, who failed to record a successful lift in the women’s +87kg category, had competed in men’s events before coming out as transgender in 2013.

Dr Thornton’s presentation also covered recent approaches to athletes with DSD. This is a term for a group of rare conditions, whereby a person’s hormones, genes and/or reproductive organs may be a mix of male and female characteristics. Some can be born with external female genitalia but functioning testes, and are often certified as female at birth and raised as such.

Both World Athletics and World Boxing have introduced genetic sex screening this year, claiming it is needed to protect the integrity of women’s competition.

The Paris 2024 Olympics were engulfed in controversy after Algeria’s Imane Khelif won the women’s welterweight boxing gold medal, a year after being disqualified from the World Championships for reportedly failing a gender eligibility test.

The IOC cleared the 25-year-old to compete – along with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who was also banned by the suspended International Boxing Association (IBA).

The IOC said competitors were eligible for the women’s division if their passports said they were female.

Both fighters said they were women, had always competed in the women’s division, and there was no suggestion they were transgender.

Some reports took the IBA saying Khelif has XY chromosomes to speculate that the fighter might have DSD, like runner Caster Semenya. However, the BBC was not able to confirm whether this is or is not the case.

In a significant shift in policy, she said the IOC must “play a leading role” in discussions on gender eligibility.

At her first news conference since taking over the role earlier this week, the Zimbabwean revealed a working group on the issue made up of experts and international federations would “ensure that we find consensus”.

The IOC has previously left gender regulations to the governing bodies of individual sports rather than applying a universal approach.

But having become the first woman to hold the IOC presidency, 41 year-old Coventry said its members now wanted to develop a policy “to come up with cohesion”.

However, Coventry also hinted that no retrospective action would be taken over the controversial boxing tournament at last year’s Paris Olympics, when the IOC’s handling of gender rules came under intense scrutiny.

Following a first meeting of her executive board, Coventry added, “We understand that there’ll be differences depending on the sport… but it was very clear from the members that we have to protect the female category, first and foremost to ensure fairness.

“But we need to do that with a scientific approach and the inclusion of the international federations who have already done a lot of work in this area.”

During her election campaign, former swimmer Coventry – a seven-time Olympic medalist – pledged to introduce a blanket ban on transgender women competing in female Olympic competition.

In recent years a growing number of sports federations have barred athletes who have undergone male puberty from competing in elite female competition amid concerns over fairness and safety.

However, in other sports, transgender women are still able to compete in women’s events at the Olympics.

The IOC was engulfed in controversy at the Paris Games last summer when Algeria’s Imane Khelif won the women’s welterweight boxing gold medal – a year after being disqualified from the World Championships for reportedly failing a gender eligibility test.

The IOC cleared the 25-year-old to compete – along with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting – who was also banned by the suspended International Boxing Association (IBA). The IOC said competitors were eligible for the women’s division if their passports said they were female.

Both fighters insist they are women, have always competed in the women’s division, and there is no suggestion they are transgender.

Some reports took the IBA stating that Khelif has XY chromosomes to speculate that the fighter might have differences of sexual development (DSD), like runner Caster Semenya. However, the BBC has not been able to confirm whether this is or is not the case.

Last year, the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) said reports it had stripped Khelif of the Paris gold medal for failing gender eligibility tests were “obviously false”.

When asked if her working group could apply any retrospective action, Coventry said, “We’re not going to be doing anything retrospectively. We’re going to be looking forward. From the members [it] was ‘what are we learning from the past, and how are we going to leverage that and move that forward to the future?'”

Earlier this month, World Boxing said mandatory sex testing would be introduced in July “to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women.” It follows World Athletics which has also approved the introduction of a swab test to determine if an athlete is biologically female.

When asked if she endorsed such a policy, and if the IOC could also adopt it, Coventry said, “It’s too early to pre-empt the medical experts.

“It was very clear from the membership the discussion around this has to be done with medical and scientific research at the core, so we are looking at the facts and the nuances and the inclusion of the international federations that have done so much of this work…having a seat at table and sharing with us because every sport is different.

“But it was pretty much unanimously felt that the IOC should take a leading role in bringing everyone together to try and find a broad consensus.”

In February, the president of the International Paralympic Committee told BBC Sport that he is opposed to “blanket solutions” for transgender participation policies.

Andrew Parsons was speaking after United States president Donald Trump signed an executive order that prevents transgender women from competing in female categories of sports. He said he would deny visas to transgender athletes seeking to compete in female categories at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028.

Coventry said the IOC also planned to set up a second working group looking at when Olympic host cities should be named.

Coventry, who starts her eight-year spell officially on Tuesday as the most powerful sports administrator in the world, became the first woman and first African to be elected head of the Olympic ruling body in March.

Much of the discussion during campaigning focused on the IOC’s need for change in its marketing strategies with several top Olympic sponsors having left in the past 12 months.

However, with Los Angeles hit by protests against immigration raids, and relations tense between state and city officials, and the U.S. government, the 2028 Games have become the major talking point in the movement that would ordinarily be focusing on next year’s Milano-Cortina Winter Games.

Coventry has long-standing ties with the United States, dating back to her time as a leading swimmer at Auburn University in Alabama. That will prove useful ahead of LA 2028, and she has said she will seek to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss the Games.

Coventry will also need to find time to help secure the long-term finances of the movement. The IOC, which generates billions of dollars in revenues each year in sponsorship and broadcasting deals for the Olympics, has secured $7.3 billion for 2025-28 and $6.2 billion for 2029-2032. More contracts are expected for both periods.

COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES

Coventry is also expected to continue the IOC’s plans to expand commercial opportunities for sponsors at the Olympics with the organisation’s finances in a robust state and the privately-funded LA Olympics a good place to start.

Coventry needed only one round of voting to clinch the race to succeed Bach, beating six other candidates, making history for the African continent, with the IOC having been ruled for 131 years by European or North American men.

Her background and being the first female president will be assets in a diverse IOC membership and the international makeup of Olympic stakeholders.

On Monday she was handed the golden key to the IOC by Bach, who was the organisation’s president for 12 years.

“I am really honoured I get to walk this journey with you. I cannot wait for anything that lies ahead,” Coventry said in her address to IOC members and other Olympic stakeholders.

“I know I have the best team to support me and our movement over the next eight years.”

Coventry will hold a two-day workshop this week to get feedback from members on key IOC issues.

“Working together and consistently finding ways to strengthen and keep united our movement that will ensure that we wake up daily… to continue to inspire,” she said.

A seven-times Olympic medallist, Coventry won 200m backstroke gold at the 2004 Athens Games and in Beijing four years later.

“With her election, you have also sent a powerful message to the world: the IOC continues to evolve,” Bach said in his speech. “With Kirsty Coventry, the Olympic movement will be in the best of hands.”

The 41-year-old former swimmer, who won two Olympic gold medals, secured a majority of 49 of the 97 available votes in the first round of Thursday’s election, while World Athletics boss Coe won just eight.

Zimbabwe’s sports minister Coventry will replace Thomas Bach – who has led the IOC since 2013 – on 23 June and be the youngest president in the organisation’s 130-year history.

Her first Olympics will be the Milan-Cortina Winter Games in February 2026.

“It’s a really powerful signal. It’s a signal that we’re truly global and that we have evolved into an organisation that is truly open to diversity and we’re going to continue walking that road in the next eight years,” Coventry said.

Runner-up Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr won 28 votes while France’s David Lappartient and Japan’s Morinari Watanabe earned four votes each. Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan and Sweden’s Johan Eliasch both took two.

Coventry, who already sits on the IOC executive board and was said to be Bach’s preferred candidate, is the 10th person to hold the highest office in sport and will be in post for at least the next eight years.

Coventry has won seven of Zimbabwe’s eight Olympic medals – including gold in the 200m backstroke at both the 2004 and 2008 Games.

“The young girl who first started swimming in Zimbabwe all those years ago could never have dreamed of this moment,” said Coventry.

“I am particularly proud to be the first female IOC president, and also the first from Africa.

“I hope that this vote will be an inspiration to many people. Glass ceilings have been shattered today, and I am fully aware of my responsibilities as a role model.”

Coventry described her election as an “extraordinary moment” during her acceptance speech, and promised to make IOC members proud of their choice.

During her election campaign Coventry pledged to modernise, promote sustainability, embrace technology and empower athletes.

She placed particular emphasis on protecting female sport, backing a blanket ban of transgender women from competing in female Olympic sport.

Coe congratulates Coventry

While Coe was disappointed with finishing a distant third, he accepted defeat and refused to be drawn into interpreting the vote.

“We have an athlete at the helm of the organisation,” Coe said. “We talked about it together a few weeks ago and we both agreed it was really important, and I’m very pleased for her. This is a very good result for the athletes.

“I’ve congratulated her. She’s got a huge job, but she will have the confidence of the athletes, and that’s very important.

“I think what is pretty clear is that the athletes and the women members in particular supported her very strongly in the first round, and you know those things happen in elections.”

The presidential vote took place at a luxury hotel in a seaside resort about 60 miles south of the Greek town of Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Games.

IOC members had to hand in their phones before a secret electronic ballot at about 14:30 GMT.

The campaign process restricted candidates to 15-minute presentations at a private event in January, with media barred and no scope for questions from members afterwards.

Endorsements by members were not allowed, nor was any criticism of rival candidates, meaning behind-the-scenes lobbying played an important role.

British Olympic Association CEO Andy Anson congratulated Coventry, saying: “We know her well and look forward to working together to grow the Olympic movement’s global relevance and commercial success.”

Russia hopes Coventry’s victory will lead to its return from sporting exile. Russian athletes have not competed at the Olympics under their own flag since 2016, following the state-run doping scandal and then the war in Ukraine.

“We look forward to a stronger, more independent, and more prosperous Olympic movement under a new leader, and to Russia returning to the Olympic podium,” Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev, who is also head of the Russian Olympic Committee, wrote on his Telegram account.

Coventry has faced criticism in Zimbabwe in her capacity as sports minister since 2018, but defended her association with the government of controversial president Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Governmental interference in football resulted in Fifa banning Zimbabwe from the international game in 2022, while last year the United States imposed sanctions on Mnangagwa and other senior officials for corruption and human rights abuses.

‘Communication will be key’

Coventry pledged to work with her fellow election candidates, saying: “What I want to focus on is bringing all the candidates together. There were so many good ideas and exchanges over the last six months.

“I’d really like to leverage off of that and then really bring everyone back together and have a reset.

“I have some ideas, but a part of my campaign was listening to the IOC members and hearing what they have to say and hearing how we want to move together.”

On the challenges posed by geopolitical issues, Coventry said: “The IOC and the Olympic movement have lasted so many generations because it brings people together and the diversity is a unifying way for us to connect with each other.

“So right now in today’s world, this is our biggest platform to showcase the good of humanity and to share our values as the Olympic movement.”

Coventry said that “communication will be key” with US President Donald Trump, with fears his immigration policies could affect athletes’ abilities to get visas before the 2028 LA Games.

“I have been dealing with, let’s say, difficult men in high positions since I was 20 years old,” she said.

A report last week in French magazine Le Correspondant claimed to have seen a leaked medical report about the Algerian.

The BBC has been unable to verify the claims.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has repeatedly defended the boxer’s right to participate in the women’s category, says the report cites “unverified documents whose origin cannot be confirmed”.

The IOC says Khelif, who is already taking legal action against individuals who commented on her situation during the Games, is now “preparing a lawsuit” in response to the latest report.

“The IOC is saddened by the abuse that Imane Khelif is currently receiving,” a spokesperson added.

Khelif, who competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and who is also a World Championship silver medallist, has always insisted she is eligible for the women’s competition.

The Algerian, 25, won women’s welterweight gold in Paris this summer a year after being disqualified from the World Championships for reportedly failing gender eligibility tests.

The tests were conducted by the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA), who were later stripped of their world governing body status by the IOC over integrity and governance issues.

The IBA said Khelif “failed to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in women’s competition”.

The IBA defines a woman, female or girl as “an individual with chromosome XX” and men, males or boys as “an individual with chromosome XY”.

The IOC questioned the legitimacy and credibility of the IBA’s tests, saying they could not be relied upon.

The dispute meant the IOC was responsible for running the boxing competition at the Paris Olympics and applied less stringent eligibility criteria.

Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who was also banned by the IBA, were both cleared to compete at the Olympics by the IOC.

A chaotic news conference held subsequently by the IBA did little to clear the confusion around Khelif and Lin’s bans.

Chief executive Chris Roberts said the pair had “chromosome tests”, while president Umar Kremlev appeared to suggest the tests determined the fighters’ testosterone levels.

The BBC has been unable to determine what the eligibility tests consisted of.

Khelif’s opening bout at the Olympics against Angela Carini was abandoned after 46 seconds, with the Italian saying she stopped the fight to “preserve my life”.

Carini later apologised to Khelif, saying she was ‘sorry’ for the backlash the Algerian received after the fight.

Speaking after her Olympic victory, Khelif said she had been a victim of “bullying” and that the IBA “hate me”.

“I am fully qualified to take part in this competition. I am a woman like any other woman,” said Khelif.

“I was born a woman. I have lived as a woman. I competed as a woman – there is no doubt about that.”

“All the athletes who participated in the boxing tournament at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 complied with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, together with all the applicable medical regulations enacted by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU). As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes were based on their passport details,” the IOC added.

BBC Sport has contacted Khelif’s representatives for comment.

His comments come after para-athletes in the country agitated against government after they were excluded from the committee inaugurated for the upcoming 2023 Africa Games that will be staged in Ghana.

Following their agitations, Samson Deen, who is the President of the Ghana Paralympic Committee, has been included in the committee to represent Ghana’s para-athletes.

According to Mr Parsons, they were unhappy with the agitations of the athletes. He, however, stressed that they were ready to fly to Ghana to hold talks with the government on why they don’t joke with para-athletes around the globe.

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“We were sad when the news came to us that para-athletes did not have a representative on the 2023 African Games Committee,” he told Asempa FM in an exclusive interview.

“Ghana’s para-athletes are on our hearts because they perform at the world stage. We spoke to Mr Samson Deen and he was not happy about the earlier decision but we thank the Ghana government for putting the para-athletes on the committee.

“We would have been in Ghana to make a case for para-athletes on why they should have a slot on the committee. We respect the Ghana government and we thank them for giving a slot for para-athletes on the committee,” he added.

A 50,000 seater stadium is yet to be constructed for the 2023 African Games at Borteyman. However, investigations by Asempa FM and Adomonline.com have revealed that the land does not exist as said by the Ghana government.