‘It’s a Car Crash’: BBC And Other Outlets Walk Out of Boxing Association’s Chaotic Presser About Algerian Boxer’s Gender

Ahmad Austin Jr.Aug 5th, 2024, 2:41 pm
 
Imane Khelif

John Locher/AP

Reporters were left stunned by the way the International Boxing Association handled a press conference about two Olympic boxers at the center of controversy.

The IBA on Tuesday held the presser to detail its decision to disqualify Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting from previous competitions. Both are competing in the Olympics, and their respective wins in the quarterfinals mean they are both guaranteed to win medals in Paris.

According to the IBA, the disqualifications came from test results that the organization believes prove they are men. Both competitors, however, have insisted they were born female and have identified as women their entire lives. Their passports also indicate that they’re female.

Both athletes, the IBA said, have XY chromosomes. Khelif was born with disorders of sex development (DSD), which can result in XY chromosomes and higher levels of testosterone. At birth, Khelif was observed to have external female genitalia and was assigned female.

Reporters in attendance described the conference as a “car crash” and the “most extraordinary news conference I’ve ever witnessed.”

Much of the presser’s backlash involved IBA chief Umar Kremlev. In addition to accusing the head of the International Olympic Committee of being a “sodomite,” Kremlev claimed that female boxing was being “soiled” as a result of the IOC’s decision to let the fighters compete with women at the Olympics.

Kremlev said that Khelif’s and Yu-Ting’s tests were both done at independent labs. The results, he continued, indicated they were male. A Daily Mail reporter asked if there was an independent witness during testing, and Kremlev admitted there was not. Additionally, he said they didn’t “verify what they have between their legs,” stating they didn’t know if it was the genitalia they were born with or “if some changes were made.”

Daily Mail described the conference as “shambolic” and noted several “lengthy” rants from Kremlev. His interpreter even struggled to keep up with the rants and many in attendance couldn’t even understand him.

As a result, Reuters cut its stream of the conference. BBC simply walked out.

There were also multiple protestors who showed up in support of the boxers. At one point, the IBA lost the room and most of the press turned around to talk to the protestors instead.

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