IBA has awarded gold-medal style bonus to Italy’s Angela Carini after being bashed by Imane Khelif
The Imane Khelif gender eligibility scandal has taken another extraordinary twist with the International Boxing Association awarding money to her beaten rival despite quitting the Olympics.
The Imane Khelif gender eligibility scandal has taken another extraordinary twist with her beaten rival to be awarded $75,000 in prizemoney for copping a beating at the hands of Algeria’s intersex boxer.
The International Boxing Association has thumbed its nose at the IOC by giving Italy’s Angela Carini a shock US$50,000 bonus in the wake of her round of 16 loss to Khelif at the Paris Games on Thursday.
By treating Carini as if she is a gold medallist, IBA president Umar Kremlev stepped up his attack on the IOC, accusing Olympic’s governing body of “killing women’s boxing”.
Boxing’s 2024 Olympic program was plunged into controversy when Khelif belted Carini in 46 seconds _ just a year after being disqualified by the IBA for failing a sex test at the world championships.
Despite the IBA’s ruling, the IOC gave the green light to Khelif and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-Ting to compete in Paris because they were listed as females on their passports.
A shattered Carini was reduced to tears following her first-round stoppage against Khelif, saying she had never been hit so hard by an opponent - triggering global condemnation of the IOC.
The IOC and IBA have waged a war of words over the gender eligibility issue. Now the IBA have doubled down again, paying Carini as if she won a gold medal at Paris in what could be viewed as a financial backhander at the IOC.
Kremlev said he was left heartbroken by the sight of Carini in tears amid questions as to whether Khelif - who fights again on Sunday morning (AEST) - should be allowed to fight against women.
In the eyes of the IBA, Khelif is biologically male - the 25-year-old has the XY chromosome - and Kremlev believes Carini has been robbed.
“I couldn’t look at her tears,” Kremlev said.
“I am not indifferent to such situations, and I can assure that we will protect each boxer.
“I do not understand why (the IOC) they kill women’s boxing.
“Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety.”
The IBA will also offer a financial sum to Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova, who lost a unanimous decision to another DSD athlete Yu-Ting, who was stripped of bronze by the IBA last year.
Turdibekova didn’t shake hands with Yu-Ting after their bout on Friday and left the ring in tears.
Australia’s Tina Rahimi, who lost on Friday night and is in the same 57kg class as Yu-Ting, said XY athletes should not fight against women and called on authorities to end the gender confusion.
“I definitely don’t believe that XY athlete chromosomes should be participating in a women’s sport,” she said.
“I definitely don’t agree with that, but at the same time we need proof, we need evidence before there’s all this talk about these athletes.
“They’re human at the end of the day and I’ve seen photos of the Algerian boxer.
“She was born a woman to what I understand and what I’ve seen online ... I just feel they should actually provide the evidence.
“Men should be participating in men’s sport and women should be participating in women’s sport
“Until there’s proper facts then people shouldn’t be really talking about it ... I believe it’s a really massive toll on people’s mental health
“It’s really unnecessary unless there’s proper facts to prove that that (Khelif and Yu-Ting being XY athletes) is the case.”
More Coverage
Inside the meeting that almost made King Kyle an AFL star
Olympic great Kyle Chalmers always held a dream of playing AFL and when a powerhouse club came calling, he was ready to swap the pool for the MCG. But a veteran ruck stood in his way.
Why cricket at the LA Games will be played all the way in New York
Appearing at the Olympics for the first time since 1900, cricket is expected to be played 4000 kilometres away from the host city at the LA Games.