Major sport is on the verge of being thrown out of the Olympics
Boxing is on the verge of being removed from the Olympics as the sport has been criticised by Games chiefs following controversy at Paris 2024.
The Olympics should be all about celebrating the immense talent and dedication of athletes from all around the globe, but unfortunately boxing at Paris 2024 has been overshadowed by the controversy surrounding Imane Khelif.
Khelif progressed into the second round of the competition after just 46 seconds due to her opponent Angela Carini withdrawing from the bout due to Khelif's power.
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Despite being a biological female, Khelif had previously been ruled out of the World Championships due to failing gender eligibility tests.
Following the fight, Carini explained why she chose to give up in the first round.
"This time I didn't succeed because I couldn't fight anymore," she explained.
"I put an end to the match because after the second blow, after years of experience in the ring and a life of fighting, I felt a strong pain in my nose.
"I said 'that's enough' because... I could not bring the match to an end, so I thought, maybe it's better to put an end to the match," she added.
Following this controversy, boxing is extremely close to losing its place at the Games ahead of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles due to how the sport has been governed in recent times.
With Olympic boxing only allowing amateurs to compete, this current uncertainty will likely mean young boxers will avoid the amateur code and go straight into the professional world.
Following the controversy an International Olympic Committee spokesperson told the i: “As it stands, boxing is currently not on the sports programme of the Olympic Games LA 28.
“The IOC has made it very clear that it cannot again organise such Olympic boxing competitions.
"In order to remedy this, Olympic boxing needs to be organised by a credible, well-governed international federation. Discussions are ongoing in this respect.”
It isn't just gender issues that have clouded the Olympic boxing scene as an investigation into 77 fights at the Rio Olympics resulted in reported “significant” and “rampant” manipulation of results.
Tom Jenkins