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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Daniel Boffey in Paris

Gender wars and Gazprom vol-au-vents: how boxing ended up in a mess

Umar Kremlev of the IBA addresses a news conference before the Tokyo Olympics
The IBA’s Umar Kremlev, pictured in 2021, issued a string of wild accusations against the IOC at last Monday’s press conference. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

It has been quite the week for Chris Roberts, the former British army officer who leads the day-to-day running of the International Boxing Association. “Didn’t go the way I expected to,” says the IBA’s secretary general, ruefully.

When Roberts and his Russian boss, Umar Kremlev, president of the IBA, decided to hold a press conference in Paris on Monday, the plan had been to publish the gender test results of the boxers Imane Khelif, of Algeria, and Lin Yu-ting from Taiwan (competing as Chinese Taipei). The Olympic medal-winning performances of the two fighters have been the controversy of the Games.

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