Algerian Boxer Khelif files complaint over online harassment after gender row

Algerian female boxer Imane Khelif who was at the center of a gender eligibility row during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, has filed a complaint over online harassment.

Khelif’s lawyer said on Saturday that she had filed the complaint for “aggravated online harassment... to Paris prosecutors.”

“The boxer Imane Khelif has decided to begin a new fight, a fight for justice, dignity and honor,” Nabil Boudi said in a statement.

“The investigation will determine who was behind this misogynist, racist, and sexist campaign, but will also have to concern itself with those who fed the online lynching,” he added.

The “iniquitous harassment” the boxing champion had been subjected to would remain “the biggest stain on these Olympic Games,” said Boudi.

She won the gold medal in the women’s 66kg category of the 2024 Summer Games on Friday.

Khelif was disqualified at the 2023 women’s World Championships in New Delhi for failing gender eligibility tests, the International Boxing Association said.

The details of exactly what the IBA were testing for, and what the results were, are not known, but it did clarify that testosterone hormone levels were not a determinant factor in the gender examinations.

However, she was deemed eligible to fight in the women’s category in this summer’s Olympic boxing by the Paris Boxing Unit (PBU), an ad-hoc unit established by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The IOC said IBA’s decision to disqualify Khelif was “arbitrary” and “without due process,” and confirmed she was fully eligible to compete in women’s boxing at Paris 2024.

Algerian female boxer Imane Khelif targeted by racist campaign

A large number of right-wing figures launched a bullying and hate campaign against Algerian boxer Imane Khelif.

The controversy surrounding Khelif surged after Italy’s Angela Carini quit her boxing match against the Algerian just 46 seconds into her round-of-16 bout.

Carini quit after the Algerian landed the first clean punch of the fight.

After the punch to her face, Carini immediately turned to her team and opted to discontinue the fight against Kehlif.

The Italian boxer soon fell on her knees and burst into tears.

Carini could be heard telling her coach, “It’s not fair, it’s not fair,” and she later told reporters that she had never been hit so hard in all of her boxing career.

Later, following calls from the OIC to end the spreading of “misinformation” about Khelif, Carini apologized to her for refusing to shake her hand, after pulling out of the match.

In her apology to Khelif, she said she felt “sad” about the controversy surrounding the match.

“If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision,” she said.

“I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke.

“I don’t have anything against Khelif. Actually, if I were to meet her again I would embrace her.”

In a statement, the Algerian Olympic Committee condemned what it described as “lies” and “unethical targeting and maligning of our esteemed athlete, Imane Khelif, with baseless propaganda from certain foreign media outlets.”

On Friday, after her victory, Khelif said the gold medal she had won was the best response to her critics.

Asked by reporters about the row over her eligibility, she said: “I am fully qualified to take part, I am a woman like any other. I was born a woman, lived a woman, and competed as a woman.”

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