Olympics boxing: Imane Khelif progresses after Angela Carini abandons

The 2023 World Championships, from which Khelif and Lin were disqualified, were organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA).

But last June, the Russia-led body was stripped of its status as the sport’s world governing body by the IOC, which organised the boxing competitions at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and is doing so again for Paris.

On Wednesday, the IBA said the pair were disqualified at the World Championships “to uphold the level of fairness and utmost integrity of the competition”.

It said they “did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognised test, whereby the specifics remain confidential”.

“This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors,” the body added.

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

The pair had tests at the World Championships in Istanbul 2022, then again in 2023.

The IBA said while Lin did not appeal against the disqualification at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Khelif did appeal but later withdrew it.

Speaking to BBC Sport on Thursday, IBA chief executive Chris Roberts said the pair were banned because of “ongoing concerns that were picked up by our medical committee”.

“We took the appropriate action which is only right and proper for our boxing family,” he said.

“It was found that they weren’t eligible to compete as females so that’s currently where we find ourselves.”

Asked if it amounted to a ‘sex test’, Roberts said: “Effectively, yeah.”

“Clearly if you’ve got one boxer who far outweighs the strength of another based against eligibility criteria and testing that would suggest that that person is not fit to be within the female category of the competition,” he added.

“It just isn’t right and so today you saw that.”