The Olympic women’s boxing match between Algerian Imane Khelif and Italian Angela Carini has been condemned by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for “allowing ineligible athletes to compete. Carini forfeited a preliminary match 46 seconds in against Khelif, who was barred by the IBA from competing in women’s events at the 2023 World Championships due to his XY chromosomes. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and World Boxing, the IOC’s ad-hoc committee, allowed Khelif to participate in the 2024 Paris Games, as was permitted in Tokyo 2021. The same circumstances applied to Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting. The IOC maintains since Khelif has a female passport, the individual is permitted to compete in the women’s events, regardless of chromosomes or testosterone. The IBA earlier released a statement clarifying Khelif was banned from competing in the 2023 World Boxing Championships, not from testing testosterone levels, as was previously reported, but due to the presence of XY (male) hormones.In a new statement released Thursday evening, the IBA said its members “do not understand why any organization would put a boxer at risk with what could bring a potential serious injury within the ‘Field of Play.’”“The IBA will never support any boxing bouts between the genders, as the organization puts the safety and well-being of our athletes first. We are protecting our women and their rights to compete in the ring against equal rivals, and we will defend and support them in all instances; their hopes and dreams must never be taken away by organizations unwilling to do the right thing under difficult circumstances,” wrote the IBA. .Ahead of Khelif’s next scheduled Olympic match against Hungarian Anna Luca Hamori on Saturday, the Hungarian Boxing Association (HBA) sent a letter of protest to the IOC and Hungary’s Olympic committee over the unfair matchup, the Associated Press reported. Hamori is still expected to fight, but HBA member Lajos Berkó said the organization is looking into pursuing a legal challenge, according to Hungarian state news MTI, “I am very sad that there is a scandal and that we have to talk about a topic that is not compatible with sport,” said Berkó. “This is unacceptable and outrageous.”“(HBA plans to) express our indignation and request that the IOC reconsider its decision, which allowed a competitor into the IOC competition system who was previously banned from the IBA’s world championships.”Hamori, Hungary’s first Olympic boxer, said she’s “not scared” and “(doesn’t) care about the press story and social media,” per the AP. .Mexico’s Brianda Tamara, who fought Khelif in 2022, remembers the Algerian boxer’s powerful punches and said she thanks God she made it out of the ring safely. “When I fought with (Khelif) I felt very out of my reach,” she posted to social media, adding his “blows hurt me a lot.”“I don't think I had ever felt like that in my 13 years as a boxer, nor in my sparring with men. Thank God that day I got out of the ring safely, and it's good that they finally realized.” .“The IBA reaffirms the position and removal of boxers from all events, aims to protect female boxers, and condemns both the International Olympic Committee and World Boxing for allowing ineligible athletes to compete,” wrote the IBA in Thursday’s statement. “We reiterate our stance and firm position.”The IBA said it’s committed to “ensuring competitive fairness” in all events and “we absolutely condemn the inconsistencies in eligibility to compete in the boxing competition held in the Paris Olympic Games 2024.”“To reiterate, both Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting post testing, did not meet the required eligibility criteria to compete within the female category of our respective events.”“The disqualification was based on two trustworthy tests conducted on both athletes in two independent laboratories” in Istanbul in 2022 and New Delhi 2023. Khelif initially appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) regarding the IBA’s decision to bar him from competing, but withdrew — which the IBA says made it “legally binding.” Lin Yu-ting did not appeal the decision. “WORLD BOXING whose sole purpose of existence is to support the Olympic movement, has equally endorsed and reinforced ineligible athletes to compete in their very own recently announced events.
