“Man” in a women’s competition.. Algerian “boxer” Iman Khalif provokes mockery from major world celebrities
Heba Press – Sports
Italian boxer Angela Carini surrendered less than a minute into her quarter-final fight at the Olympic Games in the under-66kg category to a male opponent dressed as a woman, Algerian “boxer” Iman Khalif.
After direct blows to the face from Algerian boxer Iman Khalif, Angela Carini returned to her corner, indicating that she did not want to continue and asked to stop the fight.
The Italian boxer told her country’s media after the fight was stopped: “I entered the ring to fight, I didn’t surrender, but the punch was very painful and I’ve said enough that I’m not the one who judges or makes a decision. If this woman is here, there is a reason.
The Italian boxer spoke about the presence of a “strange” Algerian competitor in the Olympic tournament in a women’s competition, despite the high testosterone levels, stressing that she had already been eliminated from the final of the World Amateur Boxing Championship in March 2023 in New Delhi.
The participation of an Algerian “man” in a women’s competition has sparked much mockery from world celebrities, as in Italy, the Prime Minister herself, Giorgia Meloni, responded by denouncing “the fight that was not on an equal footing”, adding that she “does not agree with the International Olympic Committee”.
“I believe that athletes with male genetic characteristics should not be accepted in women’s competitions,” the Italian prime minister said, according to a video clip posted on the social network X after the fight.
For his part, Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister and former interior minister, posted a message saying: “How is this possible? They banned her from the World Boxing Championships because of her male hormones, and she competed in the Olympics with the women.”
Billionaire Elon Musk, in turn, expressed his solidarity with Italian boxing and sarcastically commented on Algeria’s “male” participation in the women’s boxing tournament at the Olympic Games.
