Paris 2024 Olympics, IOC closes the case of boxer Khelif
Paris, the case of boxing
The International Olympic Committee, through a lengthy note, has taken a position after the fuss raised over the boxing match between l'Azzurra Angela Carini and Algerian Imane Khelif: "Every person has the right to practice sports without discrimination".
"All athletes participating in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games boxing tournament will comply with the eligibility and participation regulations of the competition as well as all applicable medical regulations established by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU). As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of athletes are based on their passport".
"These rules were also applied during the qualifying period, including the boxing tournaments of the 2023 European Games, Asian Games, Pan American Games and Pacific Games, the 2023 African ad hoc qualifying tournament in Dakar (SEN) and two world qualifying tournaments held in Busto Arsizio (ITA) and Bangkok (THA) in 2024, involving a total of 1.471 different boxers from 172 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), the Boxing Refugee Team and individual neutral athletes, and featured more than 2,000 qualifying bouts,” the Ciò continued in the statement. “We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics".
"The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women's category, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments,” the IOC added with reference to the Khelif case. “These two athletes were victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Toward the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process. According to the IBA's minutes available on their website, this decision é was initially made solely by the IBA's Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer. The IBA Council ratified it only later and only then did it request that a procedure to be followed in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also state that the IBA should 'establish a clear procedure on gender testing. The current assault against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which é was made without any proper procedure, especially considering that these athletes had been competing in high-level competitions for many years. Such an approach é contrary to good governance".
