Lin Yu-ting eligible for competition she withdrew from: World Boxing

London, Nov. 28 (CNA) Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) was eligible to compete in an international competition in the United Kingdom, the event's organizer said Thursday, one day after Lin withdrew because it allegedly questioned her gender eligibility.

"World Boxing's current eligibility policy does not prevent Lin Yu Ting from taking part in the World Boxing Cup," the sporting federation said in a statement responding to "reported comments" by Taiwan's Sports Administration (SA).

"Selection decisions are made by national federations and the boxer was not entered in the event," the statement said.

In the statement, World Boxing said that while it regarded the safety of athletes as "absolutely paramount," it also recognized that "gender clarity is an extremely complex issue with significant welfare concerns."

For that reason, it said, it had established a working group under its Medical Committee to "examine every aspect of this area" and ensure that its policy "prioritizes the health of boxers and delivers sporting integrity" while also "endeavoring to make the sport as inclusive as possible."

World Boxing's comments came one day after an eligibility dispute prompted Lin to pull out of the Nov. 27-30 World Boxing Cup Finals in Sheffield, England.

In a statement released Wednesday, Sports Administration Director-General Cheng Shih-chung (鄭世忠) described Lin's treatment as "regrettable," since she was already cleared to compete in women's boxing by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the Paris Games.

The World Boxing Cup Finals would have been Lin's first competition since winning gold in the women's 57-kilogram category at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, where she was the subject of a gender eligibility row fueled by the International Boxing Association, according to the SA.

The Sports Administration claimed World Boxing did not have "a clear policy and rules like the IOC to protect athletes, nor comprehensive information or procedures to ensure confidentiality for us to submit Lin's medical records."

World Boxing also rejected a proposal for Lin to undergo a medical check in Sheffield, the SA said.

To avoid further "harm" to Lin, her coach and Taiwanese sports officials, therefore, made the decision to "withdraw from the event proactively," the SA said.

Taiwan joined World Boxing, set up in April 2023, through the country's Chinese Taipei Boxing Association in mid-August. The Taiwanese delegation to the event in Sheffield, attended by boxers from over 20 countries, included Lin and Tokyo Games bronze medalist Huang Hsiao-wen (黃筱雯).

Lin, a two-time International Boxing Association (IBA) world champion in 2018 and 2022, was disqualified over gender eligibility after winning a bronze at the 2023 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships in March of that year.

The IOC suspended the IBA as the sport's recognized governing body in 2019 because of its lack of institutional reforms and transparency, choosing to organize the boxing event for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo and Paris itself.

The IOC said a new international boxing body was needed for the sport to be included in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and urged members to sever their links with the IBA because of its questionable governance.

However, 25 members of the Asian Boxing Confederation voted down a proposal to break from the IBA during an extraordinary congress held in Bangkok on Nov. 23, a blow to the 55-member World Boxing as well as its plan to obtain IOC recognition and keep the sport in the 2028 Summer Games.