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Algerian male Imane Khelif (left) raising his fist after defeating Italian woman Angela Carini (right) in a boxing match at the 2024 Paris OlympicsGenevieve Gluck / X

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PARIS (LifeSiteNews) — Controversy is swirling over whether or not an Algerian athlete should have been allowed to compete in a women’s Olympic boxing match.

Today, 25-year-old boxer Imane Khelif defeated Italy’s Angela Carini, also 25, in the women’s 66-kilogram weight class. Carini abandoned the fight after just 46 seconds, having received a substantial blow to the head. She fell to the canvas in the ring, threw her helmet and shouted “This is unjust!”

Video footage of the Thursday match shows Khelif, 25, striking Carini, also 25, hard on the jaw to start the lopsided fight.

The match has caused widespread outrage, for it is being widely published on social media that Khelif is “a man” or “male” and has “XY chromosomes.”

Khelif does not identify as intersex or as transgender. However, the athlete was disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) from a match in 2023, with the IBA stating that they failed to “meet eligibility criteria”. The IBA published a statement yesterday saying that the Algerian boxer and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting had been disqualified as “a result of their failure to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition, as set and laid out in the IBA Regulations. This decision, made after a meticulous review, was extremely important and necessary to uphold the level of fairness and utmost integrity of the competition.”

“Point to note, the athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential. This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors,” the IBA continued.

Although the IBA has not confirmed the exact tests that Khelif and Yu-Ting failed, it is widely reported that sex tests showed that they have XY chromosomes. Neither athlete appealed the decision.

President of the International Boxing Association (IBA) Umar Kremley is reported to have said at the time of the disqualification that a number of boxers were disqualified after “a series of DNA-tests” had “uncovered athletes who were trying to fool their colleagues and pretend to be women.”

Nevertheless, Khelif has participated in many women’s boxing championships. According to British woman boxer Amy Broadhurst, who herself defeated Khelif in 2022, the Algerian boxer has been beaten by “females” nine times.

Fans of the Algerian fighter, some of whom purport to have published photos of Khalif as a little girl, state that the boxer is indeed a woman.

Algerian newspaper ObservAlgerie stated that “Khelif is the target of a disgusting smear campaign, launched in particular by certain Western media who accuse her of being transgender. Launched several days ago, the campaign still hasn’t stopped. On the contrary, it is spreading and many Internet users are being misled by this propaganda.”

READ: Faithful Catholics to process in reparation for blasphemous Olympic opening ceremony

The backlash against Khelif has been intense.  

Former British Olympian and medalist Sharon Davies criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for allowing “a biological male” to compete against a woman, also saying she is “astonished” at the “weakness of the media.”

“Inclusion. Brought to you by the International Olympic Committee,” sarcastically quipped American female athlete Riley Gaines, who is known for her opposition to men in female sports.

Gaines, who began her fight to keep men out of women’s sports after having to swim against “trans female” “Lia” Thomas, also posted a photo of Carini on X with the message “ Men don’t belong in women’s sports.” Within 3 hours her post had been liked over 250,000 times and shared over 70,000 times.    

“When will this madness stop?” demanded former British Prime Minister Liz Truss.

“Men cannot become women,” she declared. “Why is the British Government not objecting to this?”  

“Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better?” asked Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. “The smirk of a male who knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered.” 

“I WILL KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS!” former U.S. President Donald Trump chimed in on his own social media platform TruthSocial.

Transgenderism, like open homosexuality, is not tolerated in Algeria. Algerian news footage of Khelif show the very androgynous-looking fighter in sports clothes or shirts and trousers. Khelif also moves in a masculine way. Algerian media has alleged that Khelif has a condition called hyperandrogenism, which is characterized by high levels of testosterone.

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