Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, gold medalist at the Paris Olympics, has filed a complaint in Paris for aggravated cyberbullying after being the victim of a controversy over her gender, her lawyer announced on Saturday.e Nabil Boudi in a press release.
“Having just won a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, boxer Imane Khelif has decided to lead a new fight: that of justice, dignity and honor,” writes the lawyer.
He said he had “filed (on Friday) a complaint for aggravated cyberbullying with the Online Hate Control Unit (PNLH) of the Paris public prosecutor’s office.”
“The criminal investigation will determine who initiated this misogynistic, racist and sexist campaign, but will also have to focus on those who fueled this digital lynching,” the lawyer added.
For him, “the unfair harassment suffered by the boxing champion will remain the biggest stain of these Olympic Games.”
On Friday evening, Imane Khelif won the -66 kg final at Roland-Garros.
Three years after her presence at the Tokyo Games, where her participation had not caused any controversy, the young woman found herself in Paris, despite herself, at the centre of a controversy over gender led by conservative circles, against the backdrop of a dispute between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Boxing Federation (IBA).
The controversy stems from her exclusion, like Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting, from the world championships in New Delhi in March 2023.
According to the IBA, Imane Khelif had failed a test intended to establish her gender. Unrecognized by the Olympic world, the IBA refused to specify what type of test had been carried out.
For the IOC, her eligibility is clear: she can compete in the women’s tournament at the Games. But New Delhi’s exclusion resurfaced when her first-round opponent, Italy’s Angela Carini, retired in the first minute of their bout.
On social media, the boxer was then the victim of a campaign of hate and disinformation, tinged with racism, presenting her as a “man fighting women”.
“I am a strong woman with special powers. From the ring, I sent a message to those who were against me,” Imane Khelif told the media on Friday after her victory. “I have been the subject of attacks and a fierce campaign and this is the most beautiful response I can give. The response has always been in the ring,” she added.
“I am fully eligible to participate, I am a woman like any other. I was born a woman, I lived as a woman and I competed as a woman,” insisted Imane Khelif.