Italian boxer Angela Carini, Who Misplaced To Imane Khelif, To Be Awarded Prize Cash Amid Row

The Worldwide Boxing Affiliation (IBA) have introduced that it might award Italy’s Angela Carini $50,000 in prize cash after she withdrew from her welterweight round-of-16 bout towards Algerian Imane Khelif on the Paris Olympics. The match, which lasted solely 46 seconds, noticed Carini overwhelmed by Khelif’s aggressive punches, resulting in her early exit. The IBA, stripped of its worldwide recognition by the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) final 12 months, additionally said that Carini’s federation and coach would obtain $25,000 every. The incident has ignited a broader controversy over gender eligibility in sports activities. Khelif, alongside Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting, was cleared to compete in Paris regardless of each athletes being disqualified on the 2023 World Championships for failing the IBA’s eligibility guidelines. These guidelines prohibit athletes with male XY chromosomes from competing in ladies’s occasions.

“I could not take a look at her tears,” President Kremlev mentioned in an announcement launched by IBA. “I’m not detached to such conditions, and I can guarantee that we’ll shield every boxer. I don’t perceive why they kill ladies’s boxing. Solely eligible athletes ought to compete within the ring for the sake of security.”

Eralier, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni additionally weighed in, noting that Carini confronted a boxer with bodily benefits, making it “not a battle between equals.” The controversy has led to elevated scrutiny of the eligibility guidelines, that are based mostly on these from the Tokyo Video games in 2021 and can’t be altered through the ongoing competitors.

Nonetheless, not everybody agrees with the criticism. WBC ladies’s world featherweight champion Skye Nicolson defended Khelif and Lin, arguing that they had been competing as ladies all through their careers. “These aren’t naturally born males who’ve determined to name themselves ladies or determine as ladies to battle ladies within the Olympics,” she said. Nicolson advised that Carini’s withdrawal might have been a “publicity stunt.”