Uganda’s female boxers barred from Islamic Games over gender tests

Uganda’s absence of female boxers at the ongoing 6th World Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has sparked controversy and raised serious questions about administrative oversight and compliance.

The disqualification of two medal hopefuls—flyweight Angel Katushabe and featherweight Fatumah Nabikolo over missing mandatory gender eligibility tests has cast a shadow over Uganda’s campaign.

The Games officially began on November 7 and will run until November 21. However, Uganda’s participation was thrown into disarray on November 5 when Katushabe and Nabikolo were barred from competition for failing to present the required gender verification documentation.

The setback was particularly painful for Nabikolo, who recently won gold at the Zone 3 Africa Boxing Championship in Kenya and bronze at the 2023 Mandela Cup in South Africa. Katushabe also earned bronze in Kenya, making both athletes strong contenders for medals in Riyadh.

Uganda joins Egypt and Sudan among African nations whose female boxers were similarly disqualified.

UOC and UBF in Blame Game

The incident has triggered a public dispute between the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) and the Uganda Boxing Federation (UBF), with both bodies deflecting responsibility.

UBF president Moses Muhangi insists the fault lies with UOC, which handled the registration of Uganda’s 39 athletes.

“Our role was to provide UOC with the bio-data of the selected boxers. Nothing else was required from us,” Muhangi stated. “Surprisingly, UOC selected the four boxers on our behalf.”

UOC, however, appointed Sadik Nasiwu—President of the Uganda Volleyball Federation—as Chef de Mission for Team Uganda in Riyadh. Nasiwu attended all meetings with World Boxing (WB), the governing body overseeing boxing at the Games, and received the competition manual outlining all rules and requirements.

“UBF must stop this foolery,” Nasiwu told Vision Sport. “We sent them the Games manual, which clearly mandates gender eligibility tests. It’s absurd they didn’t take time to read through it.”

Communication breakdown or collective negligence?

The disqualification raises questions about whether the failure stemmed from a communication gap between UBF, UOC, and Nasiwu—or whether it was a case of collective negligence.

Notably, during the September 2025 World Boxing Championship in Liverpool, WB disqualified all female boxers from France for the same reason. That precedent should have served as a warning to all federations, including Uganda.

Since early 2025, WB has enforced strict gender eligibility testing for female boxers in all sanctioned events. The policy, first announced in May, was officially circulated to member federations—including UBF—on August 20. Vision Sport has seen a WB email dated October 30 reminding federations to complete the tests ahead of the Riyadh Games.

UBF’s situation is further complicated by its dual membership with WB and the International Boxing Association (IBA), whose rivalry with WB intensified during the 2024 Paris Olympics. At that event, genetically male female boxers from Algeria and China competed, sparking global protests due to elevated testosterone levels.

Uganda’s remaining hope

With Katushabe and Nabikolo officially out, Uganda’s boxing hopes now rest on two male athletes: light welterweight Jimmy Adriko and light heavyweight Alfred “Gorilla” Ojok.