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IOC President Bach condemns “hate speech” against boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting at Paris 2024
Thomas Bach, President of International Olympic Committee (IOC). (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
PARIS, August 3, 2024 - The IOC President Thomas Bach has denounced what he described as “hate speech” targeted at boxers, Algeria's Imane Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting on social media, stressing that it is “unacceptable”.
“Let's be very clear here,” Bach began at the press conference. “We are talking about women's boxing and we have two boxers who were born as women, who have been raised as women, whose passports say they are women and who have competed for many years as women. This is the clear definition of a woman and there was never any doubt about them being women. What we see now is that some want to own the definition of who is a woman.”
GENDER CONTROVERSY Khelif and Lin have been at the centre of gender controversy at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. This controversy heightened on August 1 when Italy's Angela Carini quit 46 seconds into her Olympic bout against Khelif. The following day saw double world champion Lin defeat Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan. Both boxers competed at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and did not win medals.
POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED WAR According to the International Boxing Association's (IBA), led by Russian Umar Kremlev, both boxers failed to meet its unspecified eligibility criteria at the 2023 World Championships. Lin lost her bronze medal as a result and Khelif was disqualified hours before her gold medal bout at the same competition.
“We will not take part in any politically motivated… cultural war," Bach added. And allow me to say that what is going on in this context in the social media with all this hate speech… is totally unacceptable.”
The IOC is in charge of the boxing tournament in Paris after it stripped the IBA of its status as the global governing body for boxing in June last year because it failed to complete reforms on governance, finance and ethical issues.
REWARD FOR CARINI The IBA has announced it will reward Italian Angela Carini, with “the IBA prize money as if she were an Olympic champion” for making a statement by abandoning her fight against Khelif.
The IBA President Kremlev said:“I couldn’t look at her tears. I am not indifferent to such situations, and I can assure that we will protect each boxer. I do not understand why they kill women’s boxing. Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety.” Kremlev also said that IBA will support Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan, who unanimously lost to Yu-ting.
NO CREDIBILITY In his response, the IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said: “These people have no credibility, maybe in their own minds, but they have no credibility for anybody else so we won’t pay any attention to them.”He stated this while making reference to Russia’s online disinformation campaign that has been made against the IOC and the Paris Olympics.
NOT A TRANSGENDER ISSUE Bach emphasised that this is not a transgender issue. “This is about a woman taking part in a woman's competition and since I have explained this many times I would only like to ask each and everybody to respect these women; to respect to them as women and to respect them as human beings.” The IOC President read a quote from Carini in which she stated: “all these controversies have definitely made me upset and I feel sorry for my opponent, who is also only here to fight. If I meet her again I will give her a hug.” Bach went on to add: “This is what the experience is about. Respect for your opponent, whether you win or whether you lose.”
“Let's be very clear here,” Bach began at the press conference. “We are talking about women's boxing and we have two boxers who were born as women, who have been raised as women, whose passports say they are women and who have competed for many years as women. This is the clear definition of a woman and there was never any doubt about them being women. What we see now is that some want to own the definition of who is a woman.”
GENDER CONTROVERSY Khelif and Lin have been at the centre of gender controversy at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. This controversy heightened on August 1 when Italy's Angela Carini quit 46 seconds into her Olympic bout against Khelif. The following day saw double world champion Lin defeat Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan. Both boxers competed at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and did not win medals.
POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED WAR According to the International Boxing Association's (IBA), led by Russian Umar Kremlev, both boxers failed to meet its unspecified eligibility criteria at the 2023 World Championships. Lin lost her bronze medal as a result and Khelif was disqualified hours before her gold medal bout at the same competition.
“We will not take part in any politically motivated… cultural war," Bach added. And allow me to say that what is going on in this context in the social media with all this hate speech… is totally unacceptable.”
The IOC is in charge of the boxing tournament in Paris after it stripped the IBA of its status as the global governing body for boxing in June last year because it failed to complete reforms on governance, finance and ethical issues.
REWARD FOR CARINI The IBA has announced it will reward Italian Angela Carini, with “the IBA prize money as if she were an Olympic champion” for making a statement by abandoning her fight against Khelif.
The IBA President Kremlev said:“I couldn’t look at her tears. I am not indifferent to such situations, and I can assure that we will protect each boxer. I do not understand why they kill women’s boxing. Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety.” Kremlev also said that IBA will support Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan, who unanimously lost to Yu-ting.
NO CREDIBILITY In his response, the IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said: “These people have no credibility, maybe in their own minds, but they have no credibility for anybody else so we won’t pay any attention to them.”He stated this while making reference to Russia’s online disinformation campaign that has been made against the IOC and the Paris Olympics.
NOT A TRANSGENDER ISSUE Bach emphasised that this is not a transgender issue. “This is about a woman taking part in a woman's competition and since I have explained this many times I would only like to ask each and everybody to respect these women; to respect to them as women and to respect them as human beings.” The IOC President read a quote from Carini in which she stated: “all these controversies have definitely made me upset and I feel sorry for my opponent, who is also only here to fight. If I meet her again I will give her a hug.” Bach went on to add: “This is what the experience is about. Respect for your opponent, whether you win or whether you lose.”
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