Boxers Khelif & Lin are women with every right to compete at Olympics, says Bach

The Manila Times

Boxers Khelif & Lin are women with every right to compete at Olympics, says Bach  Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwan's double world champion Lin Yu-ting are women who have every right to compete at the Paris Olympics despite an ongoing gender row that has overshadowed their competitions, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said on Saturday, August 3.  The pair were cleared to compete in Paris despite being disqualified at the 2023 World Championships after failing International Boxing Association (IBA) eligibility rules that prevent athletes with male XY chromosomes competing in women's events.  The IOC last year stripped the IBA of its status as boxing's governing body over governance issues and took charge of the Paris 2024 boxing competition.   REUTERS VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes  #worldnews  #imanekhelif  #paris2024  #boxing

Transcript

00:00Let's be very clear here. We are talking about women's boxing and we have two boxers who are born as a woman,

00:12who have been raised as a woman, who have a passport as a woman and who have competed for many years as a woman.

00:25And this is the clear definition of a woman. There was never any doubt about them being a woman.

00:37What we see now is that some want to own the definition of who is a woman.

00:49And there I can only invite them to come up with a scientific based new definition of who is a woman

01:01and how can somebody being born, raised, competed and having a passport as a woman cannot be considered a woman.

01:11When you speak about human rights there, then you have the human right of every woman to participate in a woman's competition.

01:27And this has also been highlighted by many organizations, federations and I also would like to quote here the Italian boxer

01:44who was competing against the Algerian female boxer. She said, you know, these controversies have definitely made me sad

01:58and I feel sorry for my opponent who is also only here to fight. I have nothing against Caliph.

02:09If I met her again, I would hug her. And I think this explains it all and this is what the Olympic spirit is about.

02:20The respect for your opponent, whether you win or whether you lose.

02:27I cannot make this precise, but what we have seen from the Russian side and in particular from the International Federation

02:41from which we had to withdraw the recognition for many reasons that they have undertaken already way before these games

02:58with a defamation campaign against France, against the games, against the IOC and they have made a number of comments in this respect

03:18which I do not want to repeat to give them not too much honor. So if you want to have an idea about the credibility of information

03:30coming from this not anymore recognized International Federation, I can only suggest to you look into the comments

03:41they and the leaders of this Federation have made recently and then make your own judgment.

03:50I will not confuse the two issues. We are not talking about the transgender issue here.

03:58This is about a woman taking part in a woman's category and for all the rest.

04:05The IOC framework which is scientifically based applies to all Federations.

04:12This is available to everybody on the website and the rules of the International Federations are on the websites to be followed by everybody.

04:25But I repeat here this is not a DSD case. This is about a woman taking part in a woman's competition and I think I have explained this now many times

04:39and I would only like to ask really each and everybody to respect these women and to respect them as women and to respect them as human beings

04:54and not coming in any way near to the confusion which some want apparently to create or create unintentionally.

05:14Boxing is one of the most global sports. Boxing is a sport with high social values.

05:24When you look in the sociology of the boxers then you see that in any country many boxers tend to come from underprivileged parts of society

05:42and boxing offers them many opportunities not only on the field of play but also off the field of play and this is particularly true for women

05:57in countries where women's rights are not fully respected or where the rights of women are not necessarily part of the culture in these countries

06:15and this is why it is even more deplorable of what is happening with Iman there in the social media because she also has made it very clear many times

06:35that she is standing there for the rights of the women in her country and that boxing gives her the opportunity to express herself and also to gain the confidence to do so.

07:05For more information visit www.fema.gov

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