Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has expressed her support for the country’s Olympic boxer Angela Carini after she forfeited a match 46 seconds in due to the masculinity of her opponent. Algerian opponent Imane Khelif was denied entry into the 2023 World Championships due to the presence of XY chromosomes in blood tests. Khelif will proceed to the next round, held on Saturday, against Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori. The Hungarian Boxing Association (HBA) is considering taking legal avenues against the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Hungary’s Olympic committee over the controversial matchup.“I know you won't give up, Angela, and I know that one day you will earn with effort and sweat what you deserve. In a finally fair competition,” wrote Meloni on Twitter (“X”) with a picture of the two together. .Meloni, speaking with reporters, said it wasn’t fair to match up a person with high testosterone levels with a woman. “The fight from the start was not fair,” she said in a video circulating on social media. “I think athletes with male genetic characteristics should not be allowed to compete in women’s competitions. And not because we want to discriminate, but to protect the rights of female athletes.” .Further, Meloni further raised the issue with IOC chief Thomas Bach directly, per US News, expressing the opinion again that it was not an equal fight. "During the face-to-face meeting (with Bach), the case of athlete Imane Khelif and the issue of rules to ensure fairness in sports competitions were also addressed," the PM’s office confirmed to the publication.. Khelif and fellow boxer Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting were both found to possess XY chromosomes by the IBA ahead of the World Championships and were banned from entry into the competition, but the Olympics allowed the two to compete against women. The two boxers, despite the XY chromosomes, are not believed to be transgender, but could be affected by a Difference of Sexual Development (DSD), a medical condition where someone can be born with male chromosomes but not have male reproductive organs, as first mentioned by Reduxx. The disorder, to use old-fashioned language, “hermaphrodites,” would mean the person is recognized as a female at birth and into childhood — many years can go by before they even know they are biologically male. This could also be an explanation for the two boxers' passports stating they are women despite the XY chromosomes.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has expressed her support for the country’s Olympic boxer Angela Carini after she forfeited a match 46 seconds in due to the masculinity of her opponent. Algerian opponent Imane Khelif was denied entry into the 2023 World Championships due to the presence of XY chromosomes in blood tests. Khelif will proceed to the next round, held on Saturday, against Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori. The Hungarian Boxing Association (HBA) is considering taking legal avenues against the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Hungary’s Olympic committee over the controversial matchup.“I know you won't give up, Angela, and I know that one day you will earn with effort and sweat what you deserve. In a finally fair competition,” wrote Meloni on Twitter (“X”) with a picture of the two together. .Meloni, speaking with reporters, said it wasn’t fair to match up a person with high testosterone levels with a woman. “The fight from the start was not fair,” she said in a video circulating on social media. “I think athletes with male genetic characteristics should not be allowed to compete in women’s competitions. And not because we want to discriminate, but to protect the rights of female athletes.” .Further, Meloni further raised the issue with IOC chief Thomas Bach directly, per US News, expressing the opinion again that it was not an equal fight. "During the face-to-face meeting (with Bach), the case of athlete Imane Khelif and the issue of rules to ensure fairness in sports competitions were also addressed," the PM’s office confirmed to the publication.. Khelif and fellow boxer Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting were both found to possess XY chromosomes by the IBA ahead of the World Championships and were banned from entry into the competition, but the Olympics allowed the two to compete against women. The two boxers, despite the XY chromosomes, are not believed to be transgender, but could be affected by a Difference of Sexual Development (DSD), a medical condition where someone can be born with male chromosomes but not have male reproductive organs, as first mentioned by Reduxx. The disorder, to use old-fashioned language, “hermaphrodites,” would mean the person is recognized as a female at birth and into childhood — many years can go by before they even know they are biologically male. This could also be an explanation for the two boxers' passports stating they are women despite the XY chromosomes.
