Outrage on social media
Following Khelif’s victory, social media platforms erupted with outrage.Customers described the occasion as a “travesty of justice” and “daylight mugging.”
British creator JK Rowling and billionaire Elon Musk additionally joined the dialogue, questioning the choice by the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) to permit Khelif to compete.
“Might any image sum up our new males’s rights motion higher? The smirk of a male who is aware of he is protected by a misogynist sporting institution having fun with the misery of a lady he is simply punched within the head, and whose life’s ambition he is simply shattered,” Rowling wrote on X.
Elon Musk responded to a publish by sports activities host Riley Gaines, who acknowledged, “Males do not belong in ladies’s sports activities IStandWithAngelaCarini Let’s get it trending.” Musk replied, “Completely.”
Background of the controversy
Khelif’s previous disqualification on the 2023 World Championships for failing the Worldwide Boxing Affiliation (IBA) eligibility guidelines, which forestall athletes with male XY chromosomes from competing in ladies’s occasions, has added gasoline to the fireplace.
Regardless of this, Khelif and Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting had been cleared to compete within the Olympics after the IBA was stripped of its recognition by the IOC final yr.
IOC’s response
In response to the uproar, the IOC issued a press release backing Khelif’s participation: “All athletes taking part within the boxing event of the Olympic Video games Paris 2024 adjust to the competitors’s eligibility and entry rules, in addition to all relevant medical rules set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU).”
The IOC defined that the choice to disqualify the athletes final yr by the IBA was arbitrary and lacked due course of. The IOC additionally highlighted that these athletes have been competing in top-level competitions for years and criticized the IBA’s governance.
“We now have seen in experiences deceptive details about two feminine athletes competing on the Olympic Video games Paris 2024. The present aggression towards these two athletes is predicated totally on this arbitrary resolution, which was taken with none correct process,” the IOC added.
The controversy has sparked a broader dialogue on the inclusion and eligibility standards in ladies’s sports activities. Whereas the IOC emphasised its dedication to defending the human rights of all athletes, the incident has highlighted the continuing tensions and challenges in guaranteeing truthful competitors in sports activities.
Listed here are extra reactions on the controversy:
