Motsi Mabuse has weighed in on the gender row in boxing at the Paris Olympics, sharing a series of scathing posts on Friday as he defended female boxer Imane Khelif.
Imane has made headlines around the world and has become one of the most talked about competitors after her opponent Angela Carini. They left after 46 seconds of the fight starting in This summer’s games.
The 25-year-old was one of two athletes banned from last year’s world championships in New Delhi after failing to meet gender eligibility criteria and has been the subject of a barrage of criticism since her last bout.
And on Instagram, Motsi came to the athlete’s defence, slamming the conversation around her gender eligibility as “disgusting” while denouncing people as “racist”, “misogynist” and “narrow-minded”.
In a series of messages posted to his Instagram Stories, Motsi shared his thoughts on the row, with one angrily saying: “Racism and transphobia will never end, but we call them out!”
Motsi Mabuse has weighed in on the gender row in Paris Olympic boxing, sharing a series of scathing posts on Friday as he defended female boxer Imane Khelif.
Imane has been making headlines around the world and has become one of the most talked about competitors after her opponent Angela Carini retired just 46 seconds into their match at this summer’s Games.
While another post read: ‘Khelif and Lin are both two-time Olympians who fought at the Tokyo Games without controversy. Lin has been an elite amateur boxer for a decade and Khelif for six years.
“The IOC’s working committee, which has organised the last two Olympic boxing tournaments, allowed them to compete in Paris. The IOC defended their right to compete on Thursday. Olympic boxing achieved gender parity for the first time this year, with 124 men and 124 women competing in Paris.”
In another post, professional dancer Motsi ranted: “The discussion is absolutely disgusting. She has been boxing competitively for a while. She has also lost fights. She was born a girl.
‘The Algerian Olympic Committee issued a statement on Wednesday condemning what it called “lies” and “unethical” attacks and defamations against our esteemed athlete, Imane Khelif, with unfounded propaganda by certain foreign media outlets.’
In other posts defending Imane, Motsi continued to draw comparisons, with one noting that “banning women with naturally high testosterone levels is like banning basketball players for being too tall.”
On another occasion, Motsi referenced black athletes (tennis star Serena Williams and middle-distance runner Caster Semenya) and claimed that both had been “accused of being men when they outperformed a white woman”, with Motsi adding: “Take from that what you want.”
The South African-German dancer also shared an image of Imane and a previous opponent, Amy Broadhurst, and footage from their fight in which Amy defeated Imane two years ago recently resurfaced.
Alongside the image, she said: “I don’t think she did anything to ‘cheat’. I think it’s just the way she was born and that’s out of her control. The fact that she’s been hit on by 9 women before says it all!”
Another post featured a video of a girl screaming in frustration, with Motsi writing: “Always talking to racist, ignorant, narrow-minded, misogynistic and thoughtless people.”
The 25-year-old (left) was one of two athletes banned from last year’s world championships in New Delhi after failing to meet gender eligibility criteria and since her last bout, she has come under a barrage of criticism.
Motsi took to Instagram to defend the athlete, slamming the conversation about her gender eligibility as “disgusting”, while denouncing people as “racist”, “misogynistic” and “narrow-minded”.
In a series of messages posted to her Instagram story, Motsi shared her thoughts on the row, with one raging: “Racism and transphobia will never end, but we call it out!”
Motsi went on to draw comparisons, with one noting that “banning women with naturally high testosterone levels is like banning basketball players for being too tall.”
Another saw her reference black athletes – tennis star Serena Williams and middle-distance runner Caster Semenya – claiming they were both “accused of being men when they outperformed a white woman”, with Motsi adding: “Take what you want from this.”
While in an additional post she attacked those who criticized her for bringing racism into the controversy, she responded: “then stop being racist.”
She also accused Imane’s defeated opponent of “emotionally manipulating” everyone and creating a “toxic atmosphere” for the rest of Imane’s Olympic journey.
It comes after tThe father of the Algerian boxer Imane Khelife says attacks on her daughter, who sparked controversy over her participation in the Paris Olympics after failing a testosterone test, are “immoral” and urged her to go all the way and win gold for her country.
Her participation has been condemned by many sides, from female boxers to women’s rights activists.
Now Amar Khelife has hit out at critics, saying the controversy is part of a “ploy” to prevent his daughter from winning a medal at the Olympics.
The South African-German dancer also shared an image of Imane and a previous opponent, Amy Broadhurst, and recently resurfaced footage of their fight in which Amy defeated Imane two years ago.
Another post featured a video of a girl screaming in frustration, with Motsi writing: “Always talking to racist, ignorant, narrow-minded, misogynistic and thoughtless people.”
While in an additional post she attacked those who criticized her for bringing racism into the dispute, she responded: “then stop being racist.”
She also accused Imane’s defeated opponent of “emotionally manipulating” everyone and creating a “toxic atmosphere” for the rest of Imane’s Olympic journey.
On Friday he said: “The attacks against her are immoral, it is not fair.
‘Imane is a girl who has loved sports since she was six years old, she used to play football.
‘These critics and rumours are trying to destabilise Imane, they don’t want her to be world champion.
‘I tell him to prove them wrong in the ring and I hope he brings honour to Algeria and the Arab countries and wins the gold medal.
“She is our role model and we want to be like her and honour Algeria and Tiaret.”
Father of Algerian boxer Imane says attacks on his daughter are unfair and “immoral”
Amar Khelife has hit out at critics, saying the controversy is part of a “ploy” to prevent his daughter from winning a medal at the Olympics.
He went on to show an official document dated May 2, 1999, stating that Khelife Imane was born a girl.
His comments came as a The human rights chief condemned Olympic Games Boxing at Paris 2024 was branded an “absurd and dangerous spectacle” before a second female boxer who previously failed a gender test prepared to fight on Friday.
Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting won against Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova in the 57kg category this afternoon.
The fights have been condemned by the charity Sex Matters, while there has also been criticism from Harry Potter author JK Rowling and two-time Olympic gold medal-winning former boxer Nicola Adams.
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