Premier Giorgia Meloni and JK Rowling
were among those to express support on Thursday for Italy's
Angela Carini after she abandoned her controversial bout in the
women's boxing at the 2024 Paris Olympics against Imane Khelif,
an Algerian who was disqualified from last year's world
championships for failing gender-eligibility tests.
The 25-year-old from Naples stopped fighting seconds into round
of 16 women's welterweight (under 66kg) contest and fell to her
knees and wept after Khelif was declared the winner.
Italian government ministers and Italian Olympic Committee CONI
had expressed concern about whether it was safe and fair for
Carini to be pitched against Khelif before the fight.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has used a different
set of rules for admission to the Paris 2024 tournament than
those for the world championships and has also allowed Chinese
Taipei's Lin Yu‑ting to compete after she was banned from the
2023 world championships too.
"I got into the ring to fight," said Carini
"I didn't give up, but one punch hurt too much and so I said
enough.
"I'm going out with my head held high," she added.
Coach Emanuele Renzini stressed that quitting the match was not
planned in advance.
"It would have been easier not to show up, because all of Italy
had been asking her not to fight for days," Renzini said.
"But Angela was motivated and wanted to do it.
"Of course when she met her opponent at the draw, she said 'it's
not fair'.
"But there was no premeditation here today.
"She quit after taking one punch, she told me she didn't feel
she could fight".
Meloni said that "it was not a fair contest.
"I have been trying to explain for years that, when taken to the
extreme, some theses risk impacting women's rights," Meloni said
at Team Italy's Casa Italia headquarters at the Olympics.
"I think that athletes who have male genetic characteristics
should not be admitted to women's competitions.
"Not because we want to discriminate against anyone, but in
order to protect the right of female athletes to be able to
compete on equal terms"
Rowling said Carini suffered a "brutal injustice".
"A young female boxer has just had everything she's worked and
trained for snatched away because you allowed a male to get in
the ring with her," the Harry Potter author said via X.
"You're a disgrace, your 'safeguarding' is a joke and #Paris24
will be forever tarnished by the brutal injustice done to
Carini.
"Could any picture sum up our new men's rights movement better?
The smirk of a male who's 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".
AC Milan and Algeria midfielder Ismael Bennacer. meanwhile.
expressed solidarity for his compatriot.
"Total support for our champion Imane Khelif, who is suffering a
wave of unjustified hatred," Bennacer said via social media.
"Your presence at the Olympic Games is simply the result of your
talent and work ethic.
"We believe in you to take Algeria's colours to the top".
On Wednesday, Rosario Coco, the president of the Gaynet
communications association, said there was no evidence that
reports Khelif is transgender are true
"In contrast to the reports that have been circulating, the
Algerian athlete Imane Khelif is not a trans woman," said Coco.
"From the information we have about her, she is an intersex
person, who has always socialized as a woman and has a sporting
history in women's competitions".
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