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International
Olympic Committee
Your letter dated 9 November 2024
Unclassified
Dr Linda Blade
International Consortium on Female Sport
via email
Lausanne, 17 December 2024
Dear Dr Blade,
Thank you very much for your recent letter to the IOC. We have been asked to reply as
we are part of the team who established the current IOC policy.
The two female boxers which you mention in your letter were born as women, were
raised as women, and have competed in the women's category for their entire boxing
careers, including at previous international competitions such as the Olympic Games
Tokyo 2020, when Lin Yu-ting (TPE) lost her first fight in the round of 16 in the
featherweight category, and Imane Khelif (ALG) lost her second fight in the quarterfinals
of the lightweight category. None of the advantage you assume for the two athletes in
your letter was there.
Just recently, the medical expert from Algeria, who was misrepresented by Reduxx in its
reporting and is quoted in your letter, confirmed that: “the clinical and biological state of
Ms Imane Khelif is absolutely normal and compatible with her high-performance
sporting activity in the women's category."
Please allow me to remind you that, in March 2023, the two boxers became victims of a
sudden and arbitrary decision by the International Boxing Association (IBA) the
organisation which was suspended by the IOC in 2019 and which had its recognition
withdrawn by the IOC Session in summer 2023.
After the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Ms Khelif took legal action over media reports
claiming that she is not a woman and against the online abuse and harassment targeted
at her.
The issue of mandatory sex testing, which was raised by some, was dismissed by a
diverse group of researchers in a peer-reviewed letter published in the Scandinavian
Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports in November 2024, and also by UN experts.
The IOC's approach is aligned with the position of diverse UN Special Rapporteurs and
other UN experts. In October 2023, they said: "Expressing grave concern about
structural barriers to sport faced by women and girls in all of their diversity, lesbian, gay,
bisexual, trans and other gender diverse persons and intersex persons, a group of UN
experts today issued a policy position urging States and other stakeholders to respect
the right of all to participate in cultural life through sports and games and to tackle
discrimination against, and enforcement of equal treatment of all athletes, especially
women and girls in all their diversity, LGBT and intersex persons. They also urged States
to review standards of inclusion of intersex and trans persons to ensure compliance with
human rights obligations and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and
Human Rights.'
The UN Special Rapporteur in the field of Cultural Rights, Alexandra Xanthaki, published
a report in August 2024 in which she recommends in her conclusions: "Apply the
International Olympic Committee framework on fairness and inclusion when developing
any eligibility rules, refrain from blanket bans and rescind all discriminatory regulations
that force women to undergo invasive and unnecessary medical interventions as a
condition of participation in women's sports.” In her press release she noted: “Decisions
that prevent women from competing that are grounded on assumptions of who a woman
is, or how she should behave, must immediately be revised."
In parallel with the presentation of the Xanthaki report to the UN General Assembly, a
representative of the UN Human Rights Council said: "The good news is that the
International Olympic Committee worked over several years with athletes, sports
federations and experts to develop a Framework that is rooted in human rights standards
and takes a balanced approach to fairness and inclusion. Launched in 2021 and welcomed by many UN human rights experts, it provides detailed guidance to sports
federations on how to ensure that eligibility regulations uphold human rights, advance
inclusion and non-discrimination, are based on robust evidence that takes into account
the range of advantages that exist in sport, do not exclude people based on assumptions
or stereotypes, uphold the prevention of harm, primacy of health and bodily autonomy,
respect privacy, and are based on meaningful consultations, particularly with athletes
that may be negatively affected."
By contrast, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem
Alsalem, who you quote in your letter, has departed from the position of a number of her
colleagues. In her report on violence against women and girls in sport, she states: "For
example, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, female boxers had to compete against two boxers
whose sex as females was seriously contested, but the International Olympic Committee
refused to carry out a sex screening." The IOC abandoned chromosome screening in
1998 because it was ineffective in identifying athletes with disproportionate and unfair
advantages and had severe unnecessary consequences for the athletes affected.
Overall, UN representatives support the IOC's approach, while the opposite position of
this UN Special Rapporteur illustrates the challenging terrain that International
Federations must navigate.
It is also worth noting that important legal proceedings are ongoing, notably the case of
800-metre runner Caster Semenya (Semenya v Switzerland) in the European Court of
Human Rights (ECHR). This followed the CAS ruling in the case of Caster Semenya and
Athletics South Africa against the International Association of Athletics Federations
(IAAF) [now World Athletics]. So far, the ECHR has found that Switzerland violated the
European Convention on Human Rights by failing to protect Ms Semenya's right to non-
discrimination when reviewing the CAS ruling. The ECHR judgement is not final, as
Switzerland requested that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the ECHR for
reconsideration, which the Grand Chamber permitted. The Grand Chamber heard the
case on 15 May 2024, and its final judgment is still pending.
The IOC is committed to promoting a fair, safe inclusive environment for everyone
involved in the Olympic Movement, consistent with the principles enshrined in the Olympic charter. In the Charter, the practice of sport is considered a human right. Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination.
At the same time, the credibility of competitive sport - and particularly high- level organised sporting competitions - relies on a level playing field, where no athlete has an unfair and disproportionate advantage over the rest. The determination of what constitutes a disproportionate advantage of an athlete over their peers depends on the nature of each sport, and sometimes even on each discipline.
For this reason, the eligibility criteria for sports and disciplines must be established by the governing body of each sport.
We trust this answers your questions.
Yours sincerely,
Christian Klaue
Director, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
Magali Martowicz
Head of Human Rights
Read the IOC's Response to our Open Letter to President Thomas Bach and the IOC Executive Committee Requesting They Restore Safety & Fairness For Female Athletes
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