Three Nigerian female boxers have expressed deep disappointment after being excluded from the World Boxing Championship in Liverpool due to delayed gender test results, The PUNCH reports.
Blessing Oraekwe, Mistura Idowu, and Zainab Adeshina were barred from competing despite travelling to the UK for the championship, leaving them devastated after months of preparation.
“I was heartbroken ànd disappointed to not participate in the tournament,” Oraekwe said.
“I believe in my ability, and I know that the new weight category that I went for, I know that there is no one there that is better than me. I knew that I was going to get the gold. It’s frustrating.”
The 75kg boxer remained optimistic about future opportunities, saying she won’t consider the chance as having passed her by because “This is not the end of the road. There are still more Championships this year and next year.”
For 48kg boxer Idowu, watching her competitors from the sidelines proved particularly painful.
“I feel so bad that I’m not participating in the competition. I feel so bad. The first time I learnt I would be participating in this championship, I was overjoyed, but now I am deeply sad. I aimed to get the gold here,” she said.
Adeshina, competing in the 51kg category, described her heartbreak over the exclusion.
“It’s got me so disappointed, and it’s hard for me to handle it. Just forcing myself to be cheerful, but deep down in me, my heart is so shattered because I know how much I prepared ahead for it,” she said.
“I am still stuck on it because I can vow to myself that there’s no way I will participate and not come out victorious.”
The exclusion occurred after the boxers’ mandatory chromosomal karyotype test results were not processed in time, despite the Nigeria Boxing Federation following the competition’s protocols.
NBF Secretary General Olalekan Faseesin confirmed that the federation was in contact with World Boxing regarding compensation for the excluded athletes.
“We are in contact with World Boxing, and the president has sent a message to me that they have received our formal letter of compensation,” Faseesin said.
“The executive board is meeting on September 11 (today), and they are going to look into the matter.”
He added that World Boxing has acknowledged receipt of their letter and takes the matter “very seriously.”
The NBF has specifically requested that the three excluded boxers receive official invitations to the next World Boxing Championship in India in November.
“We already stated in our letter that since there will be another edition, the World Boxing Championship in India in November, that we want them to give them an official invitation due to their exclusion from the Championships. We specifically mentioned the three of them that were excluded in our letter, and we hope to get a favourable response from them after their executive board meeting,” Faseesin explained.
Under the World Boxing Association’s rules, all athletes over 18 must undergo a PCR genetic test to determine their sex at birth and eligibility to compete. The Nigerian boxers had testing in Leeds immediately after landing in the UK, but did not receive their results until Thursday evening, by which time they had been barred from competition.
Nigeria was amongst the countries affected by the testing delays, alongside France, the Philippines, Fiji, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. The exclusion left British-born Nigerian pugilist Patricia Mbata as Nigeria’s sole representative in the women’s category.
The NBF is requesting compensation covering flight tickets, hotel accommodation and all-expense paid trips to the next world boxing championships in Delhi, India.