Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, left, punches Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines during their round-of-16 bout at the Tokyo Olympics on July 26, 2021. Photo: CNA

/ Staff writer, with Reuters, NEW DELHI

Taiwan's double world champion Lin Yu-ting lost her bronze medal at the International Boxing Association (IBA) Women's World Boxing Championships after she failed to meet eligibility criteria, the governing body of amateur boxing said yesterday.

The IBA did not elaborate on Lin's disqualification.

Bulgarian Svetlana Kamenova Staneva, who lost to Lin in the under-57kg quarter-finals, was awarded the bronze medal.

Algeria's Imane Khelif was also disqualified hours before her gold medal bout.

The 23-year-old was scheduled to meet Yang Liu in the 66kg division final, but Thailand's Janjaem Suwannapheng, who lost to Khelif in the semi-finals, would fight the Chinese instead.

“A boxer from Algeria Imane Khelif was excluded from the IBA World Boxing Championships due to the failure to meet the IBA eligibility criteria,” the governing body said in a statement. “The IBA upholds its rules and regulations as well as its athletes' personal and medical privacy, the eligibility criteria breach therefore cannot be shared by the IBA.”

The Algerian Olympic Committee said that Khelif was disqualified for “medical reasons” and that it would support her preparation for the African qualification tournament for next year's Paris Olympics.

Algerian media reported Khelif was disqualified for high level of testosterone in her system.

“There are some countries that did not want Algeria to win a gold medal,” the boxer told Algerian Ennahar TV.

“This is a conspiracy and a big conspiracy, and we will not be silent about it,” she said.

Nine Taiwanese participated in the championship, including Olympic bronze medalist Huang Hsiao-wen, who lost to France's Delphine Mancini in the under-54kg quarter-finals.

News source: TAIPEI TIMES