VILLEPINTE, France (AP) — The banned International Boxing Association wants to award an Italian boxer a $50,000 prize. Angela CariniHe withdrew from the first match in tears. Imane Khelif Algerian Paris Olympics Just 46 seconds later.
IBA president Umar Kremlev made the announcement in the latest video in a series of sharp criticisms of the International Olympic Committee, which suspended the IBA’s Olympic recognition ahead of the Tokyo Games and last year removed it from the Olympic movement altogether.
Kremlev also said he would award $25,000 to the Italian national federation and $25,000 to coach Carini. Her dramatic opening match loss The IBA claims Kherif failed a gender identity test at last year’s world championships, sparking a global uproar over the competition of Kherif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting in the women’s Olympic boxing competition.
“I couldn’t bear to see her tears,” Kremlev said of Kallini. “I am not indifferent to this situation and I can promise you that I will protect all boxers. I don’t understand why they are trying to crush women’s boxing. For safety reasons, only qualified athletes should compete in the ring.”
The IOC has repeatedly said that Khelif and Lin were eligible to compete in the Olympics, and both had competed in IBA tournaments for years before being abruptly disqualified in New Delhi last year.
It is unclear whether Carini and the Italian Boxing Federation will receive any IBA funds, and it is also unclear which Italian federations the IBA wants to pay, as the news release did not specify.
Italy’s official national federation last month World BoxingThe World Boxing Federation has 37 member associations and hopes that more will join by a deadline set by the IOC early next year to get the backing of a new governing body for boxing to remain in the Olympics.
The IBA website also lists the Italian Boxing Federation, another national federation in Italy, as a member. Many countries have multiple amateur boxing federations.
