Imane Khelif being allowed to fight females at the Olympics is ‘shocking, dangerous and profoundly unfair on women and girls’, says former world champion boxer Barry McGuigan

Former boxing world champion Barry McGuigan has hit out at the International Olympic Committee for allowing Imane Khelif to compete in the women’s welterweight (66kg) event at Paris 2024.

Algerian boxer Khelif progressed to the quarter-finals on Thursday after her Italian opponent, Angela Carini, abandoned their fight after 46 seconds.

Carini later said: ‘I had to preserve my life.’

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Khelif’s inclusion in the event.

She was disqualified from last year’s Women’s World Championships for failing to meet eligibility criteria due to elevated levels of testosterone.

Imane Khelif (left) overcame Angela Carini in the women’s 66kg Olympic boxing tournament

Khelif pictured ahead of Thursday’s fight, which lasted just 46 seconds at North Paris Arena

The fight was abandoned by Italian boxer Carini, who later said: ‘I had to preserve my life’

Contrary to widespread rumours online, Khelif is not transgender. She was registered female at birth and her passport states that she is a woman.

However, former Team GB swimmer Sharron Davies reacted to watching Khelif overwhelm Carini by tweeting: ‘This is a biological male fighting a female & absolutely everyone can see it, they have also failed gender screening, twice & have XY chromosomes.

‘There is no ambiguity that the IOC do not care if a female gets seriously hurt. Or worse. I’m astonished at the weakness of the media’.

McGuigan – who held the WBA and lineal featherweight titles from 1985 to 1986 – reposted the tweet from Davies and added a message of his own.

‘Shocking dangerous and profoundly unfair on Women & Girls,’ McGuigan wrote. ‘IOC hang you head in shame’.

Khelif pictured (left) alongside members of her Algerian support team in Paris on Thursday

Barry McGuigan (pictured) has said that Khelif’s inclusion in the women’s event is ‘dangerous’

The Olympics website acknowledges that Khelif was disqualified hours before a gold medal bout against China’s Yang Liu at the 2023 IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships after her elevated levels of testosterone failed to meet the eligibility criteria.

However, the Algerian Olympic Committee (COA) claims the disqualification was part of a ‘conspiracy’ to stop them from winning a gold medal, while insisting ‘medical reasons’ were behind high testosterone levels.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) released a statement this week, stating their decision was made ‘after a meticulous review’.