Algeria's Imane Khelif during the Women's 66kg preliminary round match against Angela Carini at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. GETTY IMAGES

The boxing scandal at the Paris 2024 Olympics is a direct slap in the face for the International Olympic Committee. Algeria's Imane Khelif, one of two Olympic boxers to be disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for failing a gender test, won her debut bout after her opponent was forced to retire just 46 seconds into the fight.

Khelif advanced to the quarter-finals of the women's -66kg division after landing two heavy shots on Italy's Angela Carini, who was bloodied and unable to continue with a badly bruised nose.

After receiving a powerful right to the face from Khelif, Carini decided to leave the ring. The Italian raised her arm after the blow and went to her corner to talk to her trainer. The trainer waved for the referee to stop the fight.

The referee called both fighters to the centre of the ring and raised Khelif's arm as the winner of the welterweight (63.5-66.6kg) round of 16. Carini fell to her knees in tears. The Algerian approached for a handshake, but Carini avoided it.



In front of dozens of journalists, she fell to her knees and sobbed before bursting into tears again. "My nose really hurts and I said: 'Stop. It's better not to continue'. My nose started dripping (with blood) from the first punch," she said.

The 25-year-old added: "I fight a lot with the national team. I train with my brother. I have always fought men, but today I felt too much pain. She hit me twice and I couldn't breathe. Retiring was a gesture of maturity, not surrender. That is for the IOC to judge".

Carini explained why he knelt down and cried so much: "It's for my father. I'm sorry I didn't get Italy on the podium. I will leave with my head held high," she added. Her coach, Emanuele Rezini, pointed out that "the Algerian is here because the IOC took this decision, which is very difficult to take because the case is complicated".



The controversy surrounding Imane Khelif goes back a long way. At the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi, the International Boxing Association (IBA) decided to subject her to tests that showed she had XY chromosomes, which relate to the male sex, and she was expelled; as was Lin-Yu-Ting, from Taiwan, who is also taking part in the Olympics and was stripped of her bronze medal after undergoing the "biochemical" tests required by the IBA.

"This test conclusively showed that both athletes did not meet the required eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors," the IBA said then. Both boxed in the women's division at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, where the Algerian finished fifth.

The IBA is not involved in the organisation of the Olympic Games and it was the International Olympic Committee that decided that Imane Khelif and Lin-Yu-Ting could take part as they met the required criteria. The unprecedented controversy surrounding transgenderism and sport is raging at these Olympic Games, where the International Olympic Committee is hosting boxing.



The IBA criticised the IOC in a statement on Wednesday for "inconsistent application of eligibility criteria" and reiterated that Khelif and Lin "had competitive advantages over other competitors" based on the results of the tests they underwent. "The different IOC rules on these matters, in which the IAA is not involved, raise serious questions about both competitive fairness and athlete safety," the organisation said.

Asked during Thursday's IOC meeting if it should always be the case that if someone's passport identifies them as female, they should compete as such, regardless of any tests or decisions by the sport, IOC spokesman Mark Adams insisted: "All competitors comply with the rules of eligibility and that's the way it should be. This is how the boxers concerned have competed in previous championships and other Olympic Games, regional and continental competitions".

Regarding the potential safety concerns of athletes who are biologically male competing against females in sports such as boxing, Adams stressed that "there is a bit of hearsay and gossip and this allegation and that allegation... These are real people and their lives. They have competed against other women over the years and lost. This is not a transgender issue. It's important to point out that this has been misreported. These women have been competing for many years.




Kirsty Burroughs, head of the IOC's SafeSport unit, said: "Our responsibility is to try to ensure a safe environment for all athletes, because they have a right to be here and they all have measures in place to ensure their well-being so they can thrive. About 70% of the athletes only experience one Olympic Games.  It's about protecting and supporting everyone".

Earlier on Thursday, the Algerian Olympic Committee (COA) condemned what it called "malicious and unethical attacks by certain foreign media against our outstanding athlete Imane Khelif". The COA denounced "totally unfair" "lies".

And from Italy, after the match, came the angry reaction of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who denounced a match that was "not on equal terms" according to her. "I don't agree with the IOC. I believe that athletes with male genetic characteristics should not be allowed to compete in women's events," she said at a meeting with Italian athletes in Paris.




Australia's Caitlin Parker will not be competing against Khelif or Lin as she is in the 75kg category, but she made her position on the controversy clear. "I don't agree with it being allowed, especially in combat sports, because it can be incredibly dangerous," she said.

Former world boxing champion Ebanie Bridges criticised the decision to allow two female boxers to compete in the women's category at the Paris Olympics despite failing gender tests. "It is disgusting that the Olympic Committee has allowed these men/women who still look like men to compete against women," she added.

For the time being, the Algerian has already reached the quarter-finals, apparently oblivious to the controversy surrounding her. Friday, it will be the Taiwanese's turn as Lin Yu-ting will take on Uzbekistan's Turdibekova. It remains to be seen if she has the edge over her opponent. In Paris, nobody is talking about boxing, only about the situation created by the IOC.

The controversy continues, and politics is entering the fray. Taiwan's presidential spokesman, Lai Ching-te, said in a post on X on Thursday that Lin "has shown incredible strength in overcoming doubts to compete cleanly on the world stage. His determination inspires the nation."