The International Olympic Committee have been forced to post a correction to comments made by President Thomas Bach about the women’s boxing controversy in a press briefing.
At this year’s showpiece in Paris, France, two boxers disqualified from the Women’s World Championships last year due to failing gender eligibility tests, have been cleared to fight at the Olympics.
There has been huge controversy surrounding the participation of Algerian Imane Khelif after Angela Carini of Italy withdrew just 46 seconds into their second round encounter following two punches which she said were the “hardest’ she had ever been hit with.
Khelif is in women’s welterweight action again on Saturday when she faces Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori in the second round.
Image: Getty
And prior to the bout, the IOC’s ninth president Bach discussed the situation at a media briefing.
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But he made a glaring error in his comments, which followed on from misinformation spread online about Khelif being transgender when she was born a woman.
Bach said: “But I repeat, here, this is not a DSD (differences in sex development) case, this is about a woman taking part in a women’s competition, and I think I have explained this many times.”
But the IOC took to its official media account on X to explain the fencing gold medallist intended to say: “But I repeat, here, this is not a transgender case, this is about a woman taking part in a women’s competition, and I think I have explained this many times.”
Image: Getty
Last year, the IBA said tests uncovered that both Khelif and Taiwan double champion Lin Yu-ting “have XY chromosomes” – resulting in their disqualification from the World Championships in New Delhi, India.
The IBA were stripped of its involvement as governing body by the IOC last year and later replaced by the Paris Boxing Unit (PBU).
They allowed both Khelif and Lin to compete, as they did in the Tokyo Olympics when it was rearranged for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Thursday, the IOC issued a strong, lengthy statement on the matter, confirming the pair will remain present and stressing that “every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination”.
