IBA says it will award Italian boxer Angela Carini Olympic champion prize money

The International Boxing Association claims it will award Angela Carini the prize money she would have won had she become Olympic champion.

Italian Carini abandoned her fight with Algeria’s Imane Khelif, the athlete at the centre of a gender eligibility storm at Paris 2024, after just 46 seconds.

Carini, who was in floods of tears afterwards, said she was unable to continue for fears of her safety.

She said: “It hurt so much. I am heartbroken. I went to the ring to honour my father.

“I was told a lot of times that I was a warrior, but I preferred to stop for my health. I have never felt a punch like this.”

The IBA recently announced plans to award any boxers who win a gold medal at the Games 50,000 US dollars (£39,000).

Now its president, Umar Kremlev, has waded into the row.

“I couldn’t look at her tears,” Kremlev said in a statement. “I am not indifferent to such situations and I can assure that we will protect each boxer.

“I do not understand why they kill women’s boxing. Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety.”

Khelif is one of two fighters, along with Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei, who were disqualified from last year’s World Championships for failing to meet gender eligibility criteria.

However, the IBA, which carried out the tests in 2023, was stripped as the global governing body for boxing in June last year by the International Olympic Committee, which is administering the sport in Paris and has defended the rights of the pair to compete.

Kremlev also said that IBA will support Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan, who lost to Lin on Friday.