Logan Paul stirred controversy today when he tweeted referring to female Olympic boxer, Imane Khelif, as a man. Paul, who is set to defend the WWE United States Championship against LA Knight at SummerSlam 2024 in Cleveland, criticized Khelif’s 46-second victory over Angela Carini on Twitter, calling it a “man” facing off against a woman.
Paul’s now-deleted tweet read as follows:
“Witness the ultimate form of cruelty unfolding before your eyes,
A man was granted permission to hurt a woman on a global platform, crushing her dreams while fighting in memory of her late father,
This delusion needs to come to an end”
In the interest of transparency, Khelif (Algeria) had a ban placed on her participation at the 2023 IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. Both Khelif and Lin Yu-ting were eventually given clearance by the IOC to compete in the Olympics, despite allegations from the IBA (which has been banned from the Olympics since 2019 over ties to Russian energy firm Gazprom) that they did not meet the requirements to compete in a women’s event.
In defense of Khelif and Lin’s eligibility, the IOC stated:
“Per the minutes from the IBA available on their website, the decision to stop these athletes from competing was first made solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. It was only later ratified by the IBA Board, who also asked that a procedure for handling similar instances in the future be put in place and recorded in the IBA Regulations. They also stated that the IBA should “establish a more defined procedure on gender testing,
The current hostility toward these athletes is entirely based on this random decision, enacted without any proper procedure, especially considering that these athletes have been competing at an elite level for many years.”
Khelif, who has competed as a woman throughout her career, has a DSD, a rare condition affecting between 0.05 and 1% of people. DSDs or ‘intersex’ conditions can cause external female individuals to have male chromosomes or anatomy.
Paul has subsequently shared another statement on the matter:
“‼️ OOPSIES ‼️,
I may have spread misinformation along with everyone on this app,
Despite her prior disqualification for failing a “gender test” and the presence of XY chromosomes, some sources argue Imane Khelif was born a biological woman,
I maintain that biological men should not compete against biological women in any sport and those who disagree are deeply misguided”
NOTE: Please email me at [email protected] if you have any news tips or podcast recaps you’d like us to publish (full credit will be given to you).