“Italian Couldn’t Beat My Girl Because…”: Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif’s Father Speaks Up Amid Controversy At Olympics

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif finds herself in the middle of a major gender controversy at the Paris Olympics 2024. Khelif, who was disqualified from last year’s world championships after failing gender eligibility tests, was approved by International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete in the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024. Her opening bout with Italian opponent Angela Carini that lasted only 46 seconds has put her gender controversy into limelight, once again. The topic has become so big that even Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took to X to condemned the decision to allow Khelif to compete at the Paris Games. (Paris Olympics Medals Tally)

Amid the ongoing controversy, Imane’s father Omar Khelif has defended his daughter, claiming that she is a girl.

“My child is a girl. She was raised as a girl. She’s a strong girl. I raised her to be hard-working and brave. She has a strong will to work and to train,” said Omar Khelif told Sky News.

While talking about the bout between Imane and Angela that lasted for only 46 seconds, Omar said, “The Italian opponent she faced was unable to defeat my daughter because my daughter was stronger and she was softer.”

The issue has been complicated by boxing’s governance structure — the IOC seized control of the management of the programme from the International Boxing Association (IBA) because of concerns about the way the body operated the sport.

Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting’s participation in Paris Olympics is also questioned as she was also disqualified by IBA during last the Women’s Boxing Championships last year.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach condemned the social media reaction to Khelif and Lin, with some including former US president Donald Trump framing the issue as men fighting against women.

“Everybody in our world apparently feels obliged to say everything about everything without really considering the sometimes very complex circumstances,” the German said.

Bach said anyone questioning the two boxers should “come up with a scientific-based new definition of who is a woman and how can someone who is born, raised, competing and having a passport as a woman cannot be considered a woman”.

(With AFP Inputs)