Angela Carini Wants to Apologize to Imane Khelif

Italian female boxer Angela Carine says she wants to apologize to the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif after the gender controversy that sparked after their match on Thursday, Aug. 1.

On Friday, Carine told the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport that she wanted to apologize to Khelif. 

Carine said, "All this controversy makes me sad...I'm sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision."

She also said, "It wasn't something I intended to do...Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke."

Carine broke down in tears and abandoned her match against Khelif in 46 seconds when the latter punched her in the face twice during her match on Thursday. 

Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting have been part of the gender controversy at the Paris Olympics 2024 after this match and because they were both disqualified from the 2023 IBA World Championships.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended Khelif's eligibility for the Olympics on Thursday. 

An IOC spokesperson said, "The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision [at the IBA], which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years."

Khelif is scheduled to fight against Hungarian Luca Hamori on Saturday, Aug. 3. 

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