During a warm conversation at the Paris 2024 Media Centre, the author of this article explored various topics with Bertoletti, an expert in combat sports such as boxing, judo, taekwondo and Greco-Roman wrestling.

Among the topics discussed was the highly publicised case of the Algerian athlete Imane Khelif, who has elevated testosterone levels, giving her unusual strength for a woman. This has sparked controversy over whether she should compete against other women, given the potential risk to the safety of her opponents.

The case of Khelif, born on 2 May 1999 in Tiaret, Algeria, recently attracted worldwide attention after Italian boxer Angela Carini retired just 46 seconds into her welterweight (63.5-66.6kg) round of 16 fight in Paris after being hit with an early right hook.

"The Italian federation is responsible because they knew about this problem before anyone else, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had given the Algerian girl permission to compete. She participated because she had permission, just like in Tokyo 2020, so you have to fight or you don't show up," Bertoletti began.

"For me it was pointless for Angela Carini to go into the ring. She should have shown the glove and refused to fight if she agreed. Don't fight at all and that's it, but if you get in the ring, you fight. If you have a strong fist, you do classical dance and that's it, you fight. Once you get in the ring, you have to fight, otherwise don't get in the ring," he said emphatically about his compatriot's actions.

Asked why this had happened at the Olympics, the senior adviser to the Lombardy sports press group said: "Everything has turned into politics, as always".

"Politics shouldn't be in sport, but today there is no sport without politics. Even the Prime Minister of my country (Giorgia Meloni) got involved, they even invited her to the Italian Parliament to honour her," he lamented.

With his usual fervour, he added: "This has turned into a useless and harmful frogball. Boxing already had the problem of the IBA and the IOC. Now there's a new federation, World Boxing, with 19 countries, including Italy".

The veteran journalist, the longest-serving in Lombardy, Italy, offered his perspective on the IBA-IOC issue that has caused so many problems for world boxing in recent times. "There are management problems in the IBA. Maybe the problem is that they are Russians and Bach doesn't like that.The discussion is always in these terms, but let's not forget that the strongest boxing countries are in Eastern Europe and South America, where men are hungry and boxing needs this hunger. That is why they cannot be excluded from decisions, never".

In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview with Inside The Games from the Paris 2024 Media Centre, Bertoletti shared his experience with vivid examples. "Carlos Monzon (Argentine boxing legend with 14 successful title defences and middleweight champion from 1970 to 1977) was a great world champion who didn't come from a rich family, quite the opposite. You have to be born hungry to box, and that's not generally the case in Europe. Boxing is seen by people from these countries as a way out, a way to high levels.

"Boxing is not for everyone. You need the hunger for glory and the chance to escape (poverty)," affirmed the journalist, who has been running Italy's Samurai newspaper for 48 years.

Regarding the rules and the back and forth with the IOC by the association that has regulated Olympic boxing for decades (formerly AIBA, now IBA), Bertoletti said: "There is a problem with the rules, clearly. There are IBA rules and IOC rules.It's a mess. It's a risk for safety, a risk for the athletes and for boxing".

The host of the successful Italian TV show "The Samurai's Voice" on Sky Television justified his opinion. "I think the rule is wrong. Until last year it was organised by the IBA. Maybe it's a way for the IOC to cause a stir; if so, it's a provocation. Maybe we should create three categories, but that would also be chaotic. It's not easy".

"This should have been assessed earlier. If they had evaluated it two months ago, none of this would have happened; there wouldn't be a worldwide story about it.

Asked for his opinion on a solution to the rules concerning women and "the excess strength due to carrying male chromosomes that can be a risk", the experienced Italian said: "The problem is a social one that hasn't been solved, so we can't ask boxing to solve it easily.

However, he did give his opinion on how the matter should have been resolved pending further investigation. "As far as the IBA is concerned, I think they were right not to allow her to fight in the championships. We'll see what happens when World Boxing organises the next Olympics with the IOC.

From his extensive experience he warned: "Fifty years ago it was the same with Paralympians or those with an arm problem, today it's not. The solution was to have a separate place for them. Are we going to wait another 50 years? I hope not, because the damage to athletes is immense. In this particular case it was for the Italian, but also for Khelif and the whole of boxing.

"There are no clear rules. Rules are logical if they are applied logically. It's logical to stop at a red light, regardless of whether a socialist made the light; it's respected worldwide. The rules should be simpler, fewer and clearer, and the IOC must learn this," Bertoletti complained, implying that the world's highest organisation has illogical rules driven by ideology rather than sport.

"You can't change the rules with just one year between the World Championships and the Olympic Games. This is the result of doing things badly. For Los Angeles, things need to be done calmly and thoughtfully. It needs to be studied from a physical and scientific point of view, open a discussion table and then define a rule," he respectfully requested, also specialising in Greco-Roman wrestling.

Despite his respectful manner, he made no secret of his disagreement with the way the IOC had drawn up the rules. "You can't do it just because the technical director wakes up in the morning and says we're going to do the fight more or less like this, because then things go wrong."

"The mistake comes from the top, not from the bottom. President Thomas Bach is the organiser. He's a lawyer and an Olympic medallist; he should know the rules, but he's more concerned with staying in power than letting Sebastian Coe take over," he lamented.