IBA President Tells Boxer To Return Olympic Gold Medal
The International Boxing Association (IBA) president, Umar Kremlev has called on Imane Khelif to return the gold medal she won during the 2024 Olympics held in France.
Kremlev revealed this during an interview with Mail Sport where he stated that Khelif was disqualified from IBA events after two failed tests in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
The Algerian boxer won the gold medal in the women’s 66kg event at the Paris Games by beating Yang Liu in the final.
The 26-year-old made the headlines by winning the Olympic gold medal, just three years after the boxer had struggled in Tokyo.
But her victory came under fierce criticism when IBA revealed she had failed gender eligibility tests twice at the previous World Championships.
The IBA said Khelif was given a 21-day period to appeal her test results that showed that she had XY chromosomes, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS].
But she did not appeal and was disqualified from the World Championships.
Khelif was still allowed to compete by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) despite the controversy.
Kremlev said: “The IOC is not fighting for the fairness in sport. The IOC is giving away medals based on their political interests.
“Imane Khelif should be made to return the Olympic medal from Paris.”