NEW DELHI: The International Boxing Association (IBA) announced on Friday that Angela Carini, an Italian boxer who suffered a defeat in her welterweight round-of-16 match against Algerian Imane Khelif at the Paris Olympics, will be awarded a substantial sum of $50,000 in prize money. The bout, which took place on Thursday, ended abruptly after just 46 seconds.
Carini’s early exit from the competition came as a result of Khelif’s relentless assault, with the Algerian boxer, who is currently at the center of a gender controversy, unleashing a flurry of punches that overwhelmed the Italian athlete, forcing her to withdraw in the opening round.
In addition to the $50,000 prize money allocated to Carini, the IBA also stated that her federation would receive $25,000, and her coach would be granted an additional $25,000. This decision comes amidst the ongoing dispute between the IBA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which revoked the boxing association’s international recognition last year.
“I do not understand why they killed women’s boxing,” IBA President Umar Kremlev said. “Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety. I could not look at her tears.”
Khelif from Algeria and Lin Yu-ting, a two-time world champion from Taiwan, were permitted to participate in the Paris Olympics despite being disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for not meeting the IBA’s eligibility criteria, which prohibit athletes with male XY chromosomes from competing in women’s events.
The IOC, which took over the organization of the Paris 2024 boxing competition after stripping the IBA of its status as boxing’s governing body due to governance issues, is now at the center of a controversy regarding the participation of the two boxers.
In her next bout, welterweight Khelif will face Luca Anna Hamori from Hungary.
According to the IOC, the IBA’s decision to disqualify the boxers last year was arbitrary and the primary reason for the uproar that has led to individuals such as British author J. K. Rowling and billionaire Elon Musk expressing their opposition to their participation in the Games.
Georgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister, who met with IOC President Thomas Bach on Thursday, stated that the Italian athlete had competed against a boxer who had physical advantages, and it was not a fair fight.
However, Skye Nicolson, the WBC women’s world featherweight champion, highlighted that both Khelif and Lin have been defeated by women multiple times throughout their careers and argued that they “do not deserve this mistreatment”.
“I’ve actually fought and sparred both of the girls,” the Australian said in an Instagram post.
“They have grown up as girls, as females, as women. They have competed as women the whole time. These are not naturally born men who have decided to call themselves women or identify as women to fight women in the Olympics.
“I feel like the thing that happened with the Italian girl was a publicity stunt more than anything.
IOC has stated that the eligibility criteria for athletes participating in the Olympic Games are based on the rules established for the Tokyo Games in 2021. These rules cannot be modified during an ongoing competition. The decision comes amidst ongoing debates surrounding the participation of athletes with Differences of Sexual Disorder (DSD) in women’s events.
DSDs are a group of uncommon conditions that involve variations in genes, hormones, and reproductive organs. Some individuals with DSDs, despite being raised as females, possess XY sex chromosomes and have testosterone levels that fall within the male range. This has led to discussions about the fairness of their participation in women’s sports.
Various sports organizations have implemented different approaches to address this issue. Some have set limits on the permissible levels of testosterone for athletes competing in women’s events, while others have taken a stricter stance by prohibiting the participation of anyone who has undergone male puberty.
Carini’s early exit from the competition came as a result of Khelif’s relentless assault, with the Algerian boxer, who is currently at the center of a gender controversy, unleashing a flurry of punches that overwhelmed the Italian athlete, forcing her to withdraw in the opening round.
In addition to the $50,000 prize money allocated to Carini, the IBA also stated that her federation would receive $25,000, and her coach would be granted an additional $25,000. This decision comes amidst the ongoing dispute between the IBA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which revoked the boxing association’s international recognition last year.
“I do not understand why they killed women’s boxing,” IBA President Umar Kremlev said. “Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety. I could not look at her tears.”
Khelif from Algeria and Lin Yu-ting, a two-time world champion from Taiwan, were permitted to participate in the Paris Olympics despite being disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for not meeting the IBA’s eligibility criteria, which prohibit athletes with male XY chromosomes from competing in women’s events.
The IOC, which took over the organization of the Paris 2024 boxing competition after stripping the IBA of its status as boxing’s governing body due to governance issues, is now at the center of a controversy regarding the participation of the two boxers.
In her next bout, welterweight Khelif will face Luca Anna Hamori from Hungary.
According to the IOC, the IBA’s decision to disqualify the boxers last year was arbitrary and the primary reason for the uproar that has led to individuals such as British author J. K. Rowling and billionaire Elon Musk expressing their opposition to their participation in the Games.
Georgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister, who met with IOC President Thomas Bach on Thursday, stated that the Italian athlete had competed against a boxer who had physical advantages, and it was not a fair fight.
However, Skye Nicolson, the WBC women’s world featherweight champion, highlighted that both Khelif and Lin have been defeated by women multiple times throughout their careers and argued that they “do not deserve this mistreatment”.
“I’ve actually fought and sparred both of the girls,” the Australian said in an Instagram post.
“They have grown up as girls, as females, as women. They have competed as women the whole time. These are not naturally born men who have decided to call themselves women or identify as women to fight women in the Olympics.
“I feel like the thing that happened with the Italian girl was a publicity stunt more than anything.
IOC has stated that the eligibility criteria for athletes participating in the Olympic Games are based on the rules established for the Tokyo Games in 2021. These rules cannot be modified during an ongoing competition. The decision comes amidst ongoing debates surrounding the participation of athletes with Differences of Sexual Disorder (DSD) in women’s events.
DSDs are a group of uncommon conditions that involve variations in genes, hormones, and reproductive organs. Some individuals with DSDs, despite being raised as females, possess XY sex chromosomes and have testosterone levels that fall within the male range. This has led to discussions about the fairness of their participation in women’s sports.
Various sports organizations have implemented different approaches to address this issue. Some have set limits on the permissible levels of testosterone for athletes competing in women’s events, while others have taken a stricter stance by prohibiting the participation of anyone who has undergone male puberty.
