Imane Khelif’s Father Ends Gender Debate by Showing Official Birth Certificate

Imane Khelif went to war this Saturday night, engaging in a close but heated contest against Hungary’s Luca Anna Hamori. With every blow she threw, she was trying to prove her mantle, and that she deserved to be there. The fight also resembled her struggles outside the ring, a tough challenge, but she, never afraid, took it by the horns and stood tall. It seems the Algerian boxer is not the only one fighting. Her father, Omar Khelif, has disclosed the official documents, ending the debate about her gender once and for all.

Khelif, 25, found herself at the heart of controversy at the Paris Olympics when her opponent, Angela Carini, sat down on the mat sobbing after quitting the fight after just 46 seconds. The heated debate about her gender soon followed, with her win pushed to the background. However, her father showed a birth certificate when he sat down with Reuters interviews and poured his heart out.

Pointing his fingers over the important details on the document, the patriarch of the Khelif family declared, “This is our family official document. May 2, 1999. Imane Khelif, female. It is written here. You can read it. This document doesn’t lie.”

He had also weighed on his daughter’s victory over Carini in the quarterfinals in a conversation with Sky News. Shunning the rumors, Khelif’s father said, “My child is a girl. She was raised as a girl. She’s a strong girl. I raised her to be hard-working and brave. She has a strong will to work and to train.”

Then, reiterating his daughter’s gender amid controversy, he added, “The Italian opponent she faced was unable to defeat my daughter because my daughter was stronger and she was softer.” Carini, 25, who refused to shake Khelif’s hand and stirred the controversy with her emotional outburst in the post-fight interview, has also apologized for her comments.

Angela Carini wants to embrace Imane Khalif

Carini, in a conversation with the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, admitted that the controversy made her “sad.” The Naples native continued, “I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”

The questions over Khelif’s legitimacy are largely due to the IBA’s ban on the 38-9 record holder at last year’s World Championship after she failed their eligibility criteria.

Additionally, the Italian was also sorry for her behavior. “It wasn’t something I intended to do … Actually, I want to apologise to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke.” She also stated that if she met Imane Khelif again, she would embrace her.

Regardless, IBA president, Umar Kremlev, stated that his organization would offer Carini $100,000- the same amount they are offering gold medallists. The amount will be split with half going to Carini, a quarter to her trainer, and the other quarter to her federation.

Khelif has a semifinal fight with Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng. They will be turning the clock back, as the two fought last year at the IBA’s World Championships. But it was Khelif who left the arena with a win. Will she be able to do it again? Thousands of fans will tune in to find that out.

What do you make of this current controversy engulfing Imane Khelif? Let us know in the comments below.