Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif has filed a criminal complaint against tech mogul Elon Musk and renowned author J.K. Rowling for “aggravated cyber harassment.” This complaint, lodged last Friday in France, is part of a wider effort to tackle what Khelif’s legal team considers a concerted campaign of online harassment against her based on gender. Furthermore, former President Donald Trump might also become entangled in this legal matter. According to Nabil Boudi, the Paris-based attorney for the gold medalist, the timing of the complaint aligns with a shift from athletic to legal pursuits. He stated on X:
“After the sporting time comes the legal time.”
Having recently achieved a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, boxer Imane Khelif is now turning her attention to a new challenge—one that focuses on the pursuit of justice, dignity, and honor. Ms. Khelif reached out to the law firm, which filed a complaint for aggravated cyber harassment with the Paris prosecutor’s office’s online hate unit yesterday. The criminal investigation aims to identify the originators of this misogynistic, racist, and sexist campaign and those who contributed to this online harassment. According to Boudi, the complaint prominently names several individuals, including Rowling and Musk.
“The unfair harassment suffered by the boxing champion will remain the biggest stain of these Olympic Games.”
Filing the complaint in France allows for the investigation of “unknown parties,” a legal approach that enables prosecutors to explore a broad range of individuals potentially involved in the online harassment. “J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,” Boudi confirmed to Variety. The complaint also implies the potential involvement of President Trump, with Boudi adding, “Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution.”
Khelif, who recently won the gold medal in the women’s 66-kilogram boxing event at the Paris Olympics, has found herself at the center of controversy. The boxing match between Italian Angela Carini and Khelif lasted only 46 seconds, with Carini dropping her helmet to the floor in protest and exclaiming, “This is unjust!” The International Boxing Association (IBA) has clarified that Khelif holds competitive advantages over her female peers, supported by thorough testing protocols. Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan—both with male chromosomes but not classified as ‘transgender’—competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and have previously won medals at world boxing tournaments. However, last year, the IBA, the governing body for the sport, disqualified Khelif and Lin from the tournament.
“This disqualification was a result of their failure to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition, as set and laid out in the IBA Regulations. This decision, made after a meticulous review, was extremely important and necessary to uphold the level of fairness and utmost integrity of the competition,” the IBA said in its press release. The IBA further noted, “Our Committees have rigorously reviewed and endorsed the decision made during the World Championships. While IBA remains committed to ensuring competitive fairness in all of our events, we express concern over the inconsistent application of eligibility criteria by other sporting organizations, including those overseeing the Olympic Games. The IOC’s differing regulations on these matters, in which IBA is not involved, raise serious questions about both competitive fairness and athletes’ safety.”
The disqualification was based on two tests conducted on both athletes:
- Test performed during the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul 2022.
- Test performed during the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi 2023.
For clarification:
- Lin Yu-ting did not appeal the IBA’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), thus rendering the decision legally binding.
- Imane Khelif initially appealed the decision to CAS but withdrew the appeal during the process, also making the IBA decision legally binding.
Istvan Kovacs, the European vice president of the World Boxing Organization (WBO), has publicly claimed that Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is biologically male. Kovacs revealed that he informed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about concerns regarding male participation in women’s boxing as early as 2022. Despite these warnings, he alleges that no action was taken. “The saddest thing in the story is that the problem was not with the level of Helif’s testosterone, because it can be adjusted nowadays, but with the result of the gender test, which clearly revealed that the Algerian boxer is biologically male,” he said.
In response to growing criticism, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a statement defending its position. “Every person has the right to practice sport without discrimination,” the committee said. The IOC insisted that all athletes participating in the boxing tournament comply with eligibility regulations based on their passports and that these rules had been consistently applied during qualification events across various international competitions. “The IOC is committed to protecting the human rights of all athletes participating in the Olympic Games as per the Olympic Charter, the IOC Code of Ethics, and the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights. The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving,” the IOC wrote.
