The war of words between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Boxing Association (IBA) continue over the controversial gender eligibility of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif to compete in Women’s Boxing.
This stems from Khelif’s win over Italian boxer Angela Carini after just 46 seconds in the Women’s 66kg boxing event that had Carini abandon the bout. (Click highlighted text to read full story)
Carini refused to shake Khelif’s hand and broke down in the middle of the ring and cried with many believing Khelif’s past issue over her gender eligibility considering the IBA prevented her from competing at the 2023 IBA World Championship over her high level of testosterone, played a role in her reaction.
However, the IOC defended its decision to allow Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, who has the same issue of high testosterone, compete in this year’s Paris Olympics in the immediate aftermath of the controversial bout involving Carini that has gone viral.
Since the big incident, both parties have doubled down on their stances with the IBA releasing a statement defending its decision to disqualify Khelif and Yu-ting from competing in women’s boxing quoting that the “IBA remains committed to ensuring competitive fairness in all our events.”
The IOC on the other hand, slammed the IBA’s decision was an “arbitrary decision” and due process wasn’t observed. Scroll down to read statements from the IOC and IBA over Imane Khelif.
