The Reuters news agency has interviewed the father of the boxer Imane Khelif, who ended up at the center of the commotion. He presents a document that Khelif says is his daughter’s birth certificate.
19:35•Updated 19:37
Paris Olympics on channels 26.7.–11.8. Go to the competition website here. You can find the entire program of the games here.
The so-called “gender controversy” has become one of the big topics of discussion at the Paris Olympics. Algerian Imane Khelif and Taiwan Lin Yu-ting are allowed to compete in the Olympics despite being disqualified from the IBA World Championships.
According to the IBA, they did not meet the eligibility requirements for the women’s competition. Their gender has therefore been suspected.
The International Olympic Committee, the IOC, which usually does not make statements, has also taken an exceptional stand on the issue. Even the chairman Thomas Bach comment on it. He stated that with Khelif, “it’s not about a trans woman, but a woman who participates in a women’s competition”.
A roar from the father
Reuters news agency has interviewed In Tiaret, Algeria, Khelif’s father Amar Khelif.
Amar said that Imane has made his family proud. The father thinks his daughter has been attacked immorally.
– Having such a daughter is an honor, because she is a champion, she respects me, and I encourage her. I hope he gets a medal in Paris. Imane is a little girl who has loved sports since she was six years old.
Father’s wish came true. Imane Khelif beat Hungary Luca Anna Hamorin the unanimous vote of the judges in the 66-kilogram quarterfinals on Saturday night. At the same time, Khelif secured Algeria’s first Olympic medal in women’s boxing.
A women’s boxing match at the Olympics has perhaps never garnered as much attention as it did on Saturday night. There were a lot of journalists there, as well as Algerian supporters.
According to the news agency, father Amir Khelif presented to Reuters an “official-looking document”, which was his daughter’s birth certificate.
– This is the official document of our family, May 2, 1999, Imane Khelif, female. It is written here, you can read it, this document does not lie.
IBA’s provocations continue
The IOC has stated that athletes can only be excluded from women’s competition if there are clear issues of fairness or safety that demonstrate it is necessary.
The two athletes who ended up in the middle of the commotion have competed for years in the IBA World Championships and the IOC Olympics in Tokyo.
According to the IOC, the two boxers were victims of the IBA’s “sudden and arbitrary” decision and were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships “without due process”.
The background is the huge dispute between the IOC and the IBA. The IBA, mired in corruption, doping and referee scandals as well as administrative ambiguities, has been financially dependent on the Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom.
The IBA has also received a lot of criticism for not excluding Russia from the competitions. The union is headed by a Russian Umar Kremlinov.
The IBA was no longer able to organize the Tokyo Olympic boxing, but the IOC organized it itself. This is also how it works in Paris.
Boxing may lose its Olympic status if a new international federation is not found. Finland has also left the IBA and joined the new World Boxing association.
Although the IBA does not organize Olympic boxing, it wants to stick its spoon into the soup. The background is at least a desire to rebel against the IOC. IBA give 100,000 dollars for the Paris Olympic victory, 50,000 dollars for the silver medal and 25,000 dollars for the bronze medal.
Kremljov is in X with a spread on video has said, among other things, that IOC President Bach is mean and the athletes should show him “the place in the closet”. Kremljov promised the Italian To Angela Ceriniwho previously lost to Khelif, $100,000, the equivalent of an Olympic win.
Reuters also visited a boxing club in Tiaret, which had posters of Imane Khelif on the wall. 17 years old Bouchra Rebihiwho dreams of becoming a professional boxer, said he despises Khelif’s critics.
– I know Imane Khelif as the champion of Algeria, the champion of Africa and the champion of the Arabs. These critics are trying to set him up to fail in the boxing ring, but he is a champion and he will remain a champion.