Olympic gold medalist Imane Kerif has threatened legal action against a French journalist over a report last week that claimed the controversial boxer had testicles.
Kerif addressed the report in an appearance on the Italian program “Lo Stato delle Cose” on Thursday.
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Imane Kherif (not pictured) of the Algerian team and Hungary during the women's 66 kg boxing quarter-finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics at the North Paris Arena in Villepinte, France on August 3, 2024. The team's player Anna Luca Hamori will compete. Kerif won and advanced to the semi-finals. (Mehmet Murat Oner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“I will meet a French journalist in court,” the Algerian player said via NDTV.
Le Correspondent's report cited medical reports from the French-Algerian man and claimed that Kherif was affected by a disorder of sexual development that is only found in biological males. The report says that without proper medical examination, children are assigned the wrong gender at birth.
It was the first time Kherif had spoken out about the report since its publication. Fox News Digital reached out to Kerif's attorney but did not receive a response.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) told Fox News Digital that it understands that Kerif is preparing a lawsuit against the journalist.
The IOC said: “We understand that Imane Kerif is taking legal action against individuals who made comments about her situation during the Paris 2024 Olympics and is preparing legal action in response to the latest reports.'' ” “The IOC does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings or on media reports regarding unidentified documents whose origin cannot be confirmed.”
International Boxing Association President Umar Kremlev also responded to the report.
Imane of the Algerian team celebrates victory over Anna Luka Hamoly of Team Hungary after the women's 66 kg quarter-final match on the eighth day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena on August 3, 2024. – Kerif (not shown in the photo). (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
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Kremlev said last week: “Everyone knows the news. The International Olympic Committee has violated all the rules of the sport by pitting men and women against each other. As a result of the tests, Imane Kerif is indeed a man. This has been confirmed once again.” “Today, as President of the International Boxing Association, which champions gender equality and protects men's and women's boxing, I demand that Thomas Bach and his team apologize to the world boxing community, both verbally and in writing. .
“Thomas Bach himself was directly responsible for this, he personally lobbied for things like this to happen and for men to compete with women. On behalf of all boxers around the world “And I demand that they kneel and apologize to the boxing world and to the female athletes.” Like Thomas Bach, who was beaten and abused, and everyone at the IBA, I now demand your public apology. I'll be waiting. ”
Kerif was embroiled in controversy before and after the Paris Olympics after reports surfaced about her failing a gender test that led to her disqualification from the International Boxing Association's World Championships. The Algerian Olympic Committee announced at the time that Kerif had been disqualified for “medical reasons.”
The issue has clouded the Olympic women's boxing division, with Kerif facing accusations for being the first man to compete in the women's division. Mr. Kerif denied all gender-related accusations.
President-elect Donald Trump and Italian Jorge Meloni both spoke out about the Kerif controversy.
Algeria's Imane Kherif reacts before her match against Hungary's Anna Luca Hamori in the women's 66 kg boxing quarter-finals of the 2024 Paris Olympic Boxing at the North Paris Arena in Villepinte, France on August 3, 2024. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)
“I've seen a lot of politicians and presidents say things without sources and that's strange because they say things without any basis or reality,” Kerif said, via The Telegraph. spoke.
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Kerif has already filed a lawsuit against several people, including Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, for calling the boxer a man.
FOX News' Ryan Canfield contributed to this report.
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