In March 2023, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif was removed from the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships shortly before she was due to fight China's Yang Liu for the welterweight gold medal. The Russian-led International Boxing Association said Khelif had failed an unspecified eligibility test, but it did not disclose the methodology, laboratory findings, or a clear appeal procedure. The timing was especially dramatic: the disqualification came only three days after Khelif had defeated unbeaten Russian prospect Azalia Amineva, restoring Amineva's undefeated record and prompting accusations that the ruling had been politically or competitively motivated. Uzbekistan's Navbakhor Khamidova ultimately received the bronze medal that had been allocated to Khelif.
IBA president Umar Kremlev later claimed that DNA testing had proved that Khelif and another boxer, Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, possessed XY chromosomes. Yet the association subsequently said the athletes had not undergone testosterone testing but rather a separate confidential examination, while other statements from IBA officials referred to chromosome tests or testosterone levels. The IBA never publicly established what standard Khelif had failed. The IOC condemned the decision as sudden, arbitrary, and lacking due process, noting that the IBA's own minutes suggested the initial ruling had been made by its secretary general and chief executive before the board ratified it and only afterward sought rules for future cases. Khelif's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport ended when required procedural costs were not paid. The episode became a major governance scandal in boxing, particularly because the IBA had already been suspended by the IOC over governance problems and was not in charge of Olympic boxing in Paris.
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