The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)

$ 50k reward for boxer who quit in controvers­ial bout vs Khelif

THE BANNED Internatio­nal Boxing Associatio­n wants to give a $ 50,000 prize to Italy boxer Angela Carini, who tearfully quit her opening bout with I mane Khelif of Algeria at the Paris Olympics after just 46 s e c o nds . I BA pre s i de nt Umar Kre mlev made the announceme­nt in his latest video in a series of incendiary criticisms of the Internatio­nal Olympic Committee, which s us pende d hi s orga ni z a t i on' s Olympic recognitio­n before the Tokyo Games and ba ni s he d t he body f ro m t he Oly mpic movement entirely last year.

Kremlev also said he intends to award $ 25,000 to Italy's national federation and $ 25,000 to Carini's coach after her dramatic opening- round exit against Khelif. The IBA claims Khelif failed an unspecifie­d gender identity test last year at its world championsh­ips, and it has stoked a worldwide uproar over the presence of Khelif and Lin Yuting of Taiwan in the Olympic women's boxing tournament.

“I couldn't look at her tears,” Kremlev said of Carini. “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.” The IOC repeatedly has said Khelif and Lin meet the requiremen­ts for Olympic eligibilit­y. Both boxers competed in IBA tournament­s for years before their abrupt disqualifi­cation last year in New Delhi.

The IBA announced plans last month to give $ 3.1 milli on i n prize money to t he medal winners in Paris — even though the IBA has nothing to do with Olympic boxing anymore. The IOC and the IBA have clashed for years over the IOC'S concerns about the IBA'S governance, financial transparen­cy and fairness.

I t ' s uncl e a r whether Ca r i ni a nd t he Italian Boxing Associatio­n would accept the IBA'S money — or even which Italian federation the IBA hopes to reward, because it didn't specify in its news release.

Khelif assure d of medal

Imane Khelif beat Hungary's Luca Anna Hamori by unanimous decision in a welterweig­ht quarter- final fight at the Paris Games on Saturday to ensure Algeria's first Olympic boxing medal since 2000.

Khelif, a silver medallist at the 2022 worlds, and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu- ting have been in the spotlight in recent days as part of a gender row that has dominated headlines and been the subject of much discussion on social media platforms.

Both boxers were disqualifi­e d at the 2023 World Championsh­ips in New Delhi a f te r f a i l i ng t he I nte r nat i o nal Boxi ng Associatio­n's ( IBA) eligibilit­y rules preventing athletes with male XY chromosome­s competing in women's events.

Khelif had a quick start against Hamori, letting fly with flurries of lightning- quick punches to win the f i rst two rounds on eve r y j udge' s s c o re c a rd , de s pi te t he Hungarian landing a couple of strong shots.