▪️Fatuma Nabikolo and Angel Katushabe are among the boxers who will not take part because their federations didn’t comply with the requirement of having their female boxers undergo the test to prove they’re biologically female
6/11/2025
Uganda’s Africa Zone 3 featherweight champion Fatuma “The Thunder” Nabikolo and flyweight Angel Katushabe have been declared ineligible to take part in the Islamic Solidarity Games boxing tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Reason? The Uganda Boxing Federation did not comply with the tournament rules requiring all female boxers to undergo the Gender Eligibility Test.
Coach Sam Kabugo said Uganda is one of the countries affected with among others Egypt, Sudan and Palestine.
The Riyadh boxing tournament is being held under the auspices of World Boxing which has now made it mandatory for all female boxers to undergo the Gender Eligibility Test to ascertain they are biologically female.
Contacted by boxersworld.co.ke, Uganda’s coach Sam Kabugo said they were unaware of this requirement.
“This is our first time to participate in a tournament organised by World Boxing, so it’s one of their strict rules for female boxers to undergo the gender test,” said Kabugo, adding: “Uganda being first timers and other countries like Egypt, Sudan, Palestine we were all affected by this requirement. All their female boxers were also disqualified because they had not done the gender eligibility tests for female boxers.”
For the two promising Ugandan female boxers, this is a big blow to their earlier excitement of taking part in the Islamic Games. They were among the 15 Ugandan medallists in the Africa Zone 3 Championships held recently in Nairobi.
Fatuma Nabikolo was in spanking form in her 5-0 points victory over DR Congo’s Phoba Kerene in the featherweight final. Angel Katushabe settled for a bronze medal following her defeat by DR Congo’s Africa flyweight champion Nyembo Gisele in the semi-finals.
Bubbling with confidence, Fatuma, a hot property in Uganda boxing, was looking forward to win another gold medal. “I’m going for my second gold medal in Riyadh, my morale is high,” Fatuma told boxersworld.co.ke in an interview.
After being told they were ineligible to take part in the Islamic Games, Fatuma’s ambition went up in smoke. “It’s so sad, I’m heartbroken but I take it like another punch in the ring, I’ll recover and move on to the next competition,” said Fatuma.
World Boxing has made it compulsory for female boxers to undergo Gender Eligibility Test in the wake of the controversy surrounding Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) ignored a ban on the two boxers imposed by the International Boxing Association (IBA) at the 2023 World Championships in India.
Courtesy Reuters
Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting were disqualified from the 2023 World Boxing Championships in New Delhi because they failed IBA’s gender eligibility tests due to their testosterone levels, which the IBA stated was a result of them having male XY chromosomes. The IBA disqualified them from women’s events, but the IOC allowed them to compete in the Paris Olympics, as the IOC’s rules on gender eligibility, which are not governed by the IBA, are different.
With WB taking the cue from IBA it means IOC will now play ball.
