Mark Adams, the spokesman for the International IOC who is vehemently defending the right for men to compete in Olympic women’s boxing events, worked at the World Economic Forum for 10 years and calls Sir Kier Starmer his “old mate.”

On Thursday, a boxer deemed a “biological male” won against an Italian woman in one of the most controversial Olympic bouts ever.

Imane Khelif, who has been proven to have male chromosomes (XY), was thrown out of last year’s world championships after failing testosterone tests carried out to establish gender qualification.  He defeated his female opponent, Italy’s Angela Carini, who abandoned the fight after just 46 seconds because Khelif’s punches were “just too powerful.”

After the fight, the Algerian Boxing Federation gloated about Khelif’s victory.  However, bosses at the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”) are now facing a furious backlash.

Another male boxer who is in the female competition is Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan.  He was also disqualified from the 2023 women’s boxing world championships for failing a gender eligibility test.  He won his first bout in the Olympic women’s competition yesterday.

Former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan – now president of the Professional Boxing Association – said it was a “shocking” and “pathetic” decision to allow “a man” to fight women.

Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association (“IBA”) has said after a series of DNA tests the association “uncovered athletes who were trying to fool their colleagues and pretended to be women.”

Kremlev claimed that the tests “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded from the sports events.”

IBA defines a woman, female or girl as “an individual with chromosome XX” and men, males or boys as “an individual with chromosome XY.”  The IOC defines gender by how it is recorded on an athlete’s passport.

Now it has been revealed that the official at the centre of the Olympic gender row was one of Sir Keir Starmer’s best men at his wedding.

Mark Adams, the spokesman for the International IOC who expressed concerns earlier this week about a “witch hunt” against boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, has known Starmer since the two men were at school together.

The Telegraph reported yesterday:

Responding to Khelif’s victory on Thursday, Adams told reporters: “Testosterone is not a perfect test. Many women can have testosterone, which is in what would be called ‘male levels’ and still be women, and still compete as a woman … I hope we’re all agreed we’re not calling for people to go back to the bad old days of sex testing, which was a terrible thing to do and I’m sure we all agree that’s not the way forward in this situation.”

In 2014, Mr Adams referred to Sir Keir as “my old mate” as he congratulated him on his selection as the Labour candidate for St Pancras and Holborn at the 2015 general election.

When Sir Keir was subsequently elected on May 7, Mr Adams wrote: “Congrats to a great bloke.”

He was one of Sir Keir’s four best men.

In February, Mr Adams was among guests including Sean Dyche, the Everton manager, at a drinks party for senior sports figures held by Sir Keir, who reportedly namechecked his old school friend in his speech.

Official at centre of Olympics boxing gender row was Keir Starmer’s best man, The Telegraph, 2 August 2024

The Telegraph goes on to note that Adams, who joined the IOC as its director of communications in 2009, is a former broadcast journalist.  He worked at the BBC, ITN and EuroNews before spending 10 years in a senior communications role for the World Economic Forum.

“Mr. Adams has lived in Lausanne ever since he began his role with the IOC, having lived and worked in Geneva during his time at the World Economic Forum,” The Telegraph said.

Further reading: Official at centre of Olympics boxing row was Sir Keir Starmer’s best man, Express, 2 August 2024

Featured image: IOC spokesman Mark Adams speaks at a press conference in 2021. Source: Neuesta Nachrichten