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'I will fight': Khelif responds to boxing organisation lawsuit / Photo: MOHD RASFAN - AFP/File
'I will fight': Khelif responds to boxing organisation lawsuit
Algerian gold winning boxer Imane Khelif has denounced "false and offensive" allegations after the International Boxing Association (IBA) said it will sue the International Olympic Committee over her and another female athlete's inclusion at the games' women's boxing last year.
Khelif said in a statement posted Tuesday on social media she will "take all necessary legal steps to ensure that my rights and the principles of fair competition are upheld".
The IBA has "again made baseless accusations that are false and offensive, using them to further their agenda", she said.
"This is a matter that concerns not just me but the broader principles of fairness and due process in sport," she added.
Earlier this week, the IBA said it will launch a lawsuit against the IOC for including Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting -- who also won gold -- at last year's Olympic Games in Paris.
The IBA, led by Umar Kremlev, a Kremlin-linked Russian oligarch, was excluded from the Olympic movement in 2019 over financial and ethical irregularities.
As a result the IOC organised the boxing in Paris.
Neither Khelif nor Lin Yu-ting are transgender women. Both were born and raised as women, which is how they are registered on their passports.
Yet the IBA barred them from its 2023 world championships after it said they failed gender eligibility tests for carrying XY chromosomes.
Medical experts have defined this as a form of "differences in sex development" (DSD), formerly known as intersexuality, which occurs in approximately one in 1,000 to 4,500 births.
In its statement announcing the lawsuit, the IBA linked its action to US President Donald Trump's executive order last week seeking to ban transgender athletes from participating in women's sports.
The IOC told AFP the IBA's lawsuit was part of a "campaign against the IOC which is ongoing since their recognition was withdrawn by the IOC for issues related to governance, judging and refereeing as well as questions around their finances".
Khelif and Yu-Ting "were born as women, were raised as women, and have competed in the women's category for their entire boxing careers", it said.
"They also competed in IBA World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments before they became victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA."
F.Leblanc--SMC
