AIBA adds skirt option to women's boxing rules

Female boxers at the London Olympics will be allowed to wear either shorts or a skirt under a new amendment to amateur boxing rules. The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) quietly updated several rules on Thursday, publishing the changes on its website. [caption id=“attachment_231359” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“An Afghan woman boxer, practices at a boxing club in Kabul. AP”] [/caption] In a new sentence in the Competition Uniform section, AIBA says female boxers will wear “either shorts or the option of a skirt.” The new rule specifies no particular length for the skirt. AIBA faced international criticism and sexism charges in recent months when officials debated whether to ask women’s boxers to wear skirts in competition. AIBA President Wu Ching-Kuo says he had heard from fans who couldn’t tell women from men when fighters wore protective headgear. AIBA’s new rule stops short of a requirement or even a recommendation. AP