Jakarta. Vietnam women’s volleyball team won against Egypt in the placement match at the 2025 FIVB U21 Women’s World Championship, but the victory was overshadowed by a gender eligibility dispute --the newest chapter in a long history of sex verification and eligibility issues in world sports.

On Aug. 13, Vietnam defeated Egypt 3–1 in a contest for positions 17–24, marking the return of outside hitter Phuong Quynh after days of speculation that she and teammate Dang Thi Hong were male. Hong remained in the stands.

The day before, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) annulled all of Vietnam’s earlier results, ruling the team had fielded a male player in breach of Article 12.2 of player regulations. The unidentified athlete was expelled from the competition, and all matches involving the player were forfeited 0–3. Vietnam tumbled to last place in Pool A, with only one recognized victory over Puerto Rico, a match that was played without the two scrutinized players.

The Vietnam Volleyball Federation appealed, arguing its squad’s registration was cleared before the tournament and that the annulment relied on new profile requirements introduced mid-competition on Aug. 12.

The case follows decades of disputes over how sports define and enforce gender eligibility. Other notable cases in gender eligibility controversies include the following:

• Caster Semenya (South Africa, Athletics): The two-time Olympic 800m champion was subjected to sex verification testing in 2009. Cleared to compete, she refused testosterone-suppressing treatment mandated under 2019 rules and pursued legal action for discrimination.

• Dutee Chand (India, Athletics): Suspended in 2014 under hyperandrogenism rules due to naturally high testosterone levels, she overturned the policy in 2015 at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, setting a precedent for others.

• Aprilia Manganang (Indonesia, Volleyball): A celebrated women’s team player later found to have been born with hypospadias. 

  After winning the national volleyball competition Proliga with the Popsivo team in 2018 and joining a Thai club for a brief tournament in the following year, he resigned from the sport in 2020 to focus on his job as a second sergeant at the Indonesian Military. Aprilia was also included in the national team during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
  
  National Volleyball Federation PBVSI chose not to revoke his titles, citing no deliberate misrepresentation.

• Tokyo 2020 Bans (Athletics): Six African runners, including Namibia’s Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, were barred from their signature events under testosterone limits despite being cisgender women.

• Imane Khelif (Algeria, Boxing): Barred from the 2023 Women’s World Championships for undisclosed medical reasons, she later competed in the 2024 Olympics. Despite being cleared by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to participate in women’s competitions, she was accused of being transgender following a match with Italian boxer Angela Carini. Carini withdrew just 46 seconds into the bout, claiming it was unfair. In 2025, the president of World Boxing issued an apology after Khelif was singled out in the organization’s announcement of a new mandatory sex-testing policy.