Imane Khelif Fight Development: Russian Board Controversy

Social media has been in uproar recently after the Imane Khelif fight against Angela Carini, as many claimed Khelif to be biologically male despite competing as a female. This was debunked, though the boxer was reported to have ‘failed gender eligibility tests’ alongside fellow female boxer Lin Yu-Ting. It has now come to light however, that the organisation that ran those tests has its own controversial past.

The Imane Khelif fight controversy started after opponent Carini quit within 46 seconds of their bout.

The Algerian boxer was born a female, and has never claimed to be anything but. She has also lost 9 of her 47 bouts according to Boxrec, and of the 38 wins, only 5 have come by stoppage. When these facts are taken into account, the public witchhunt of Khelif becomes a lot less logical, but how did it start?

Khelif, who today beat Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori, guaranteeing a bronze medal at least, became the cause of public outrage after her opponent Angela Carini quit in 46 seconds, claiming ‘it’s not fair’. The Olympic committee cleared Khelif to fight, though she was previously disqualified from the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi by the IBA.

Imane Khelif Fight Development

The IBA, a Russian organisation which the Olympic committee withdrew recognition of in 2023, claimed Khelif’s ban was the result of a failure to ‘meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition, as set and laid out in the IBA regulations’.

The IBA notably denied testing Khelif’s testosterone levels but claimed Khelif and Yu-Ting were both found to have XY chromosomes. The IBA defines a woman as ‘an individual with chromosome XX’ and a man as ‘an individual with chromosome XY’.

The IOC has questioned the IBA’s testing process, and labelled their decision to ban the athletes as ‘arbitrary’.

What makes the IBA debacle more controversial is the fact that the decision to disqualify Khelif came three days after she defeated Azalia Amineva, a Russian prospect. The disqualification restored Amineva’s record to a perfect one. The timing of Khelif’s ban becomes even more questionable with this in mind.

The IBA President, Umar Kremlev, said of the Imane Khelif fight debacle, ‘I do not understand why they kill women’s boxing’.

With huge names such as Piers Morgan, JK Rowling, Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk spreading misinformation about Khelif’s gender, it is important to understand the facts and to understand the flawed nature of the athletes’ bans in the first place.

Imane Khelif wins Bronze and declares ‘I am a woman’.

Imane Khelif moves on to the semi-finals after her dominant display against the Hungarian Hamori. After the Imane Khelif fight, the Algerian declared ‘I am a woman’.

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