[ad_1]
Cases in cases. When the boxer Iman Khalif During the 2024 Paris Olympics, she faced a global smear campaign accusing her of being transgender, and another controversy broke out, this time involving Moroccan boxer Oumayma Belahbib, who was suspected of being one of the instigators of the attack on the Algerian champion.
Imane Khelif won the gold medal in her category (-66 kg) at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Friday, August 9, and the competition against her has calmed down a bit.
But the dispute between Algerian and Moroccan Internet users continues on social networks and threatens to get worse. This could even be a new soap opera, which now begins with the decision of two North African boxers to take legal action in France, both for “cyber harassment”.
Imane Khelif’s lawyer, Me Nabil Boudi, announced on Saturday, August 10, that he had filed a complaint of “serious online harassment” with the Paris prosecutor’s office in an effort to combat online hatred.
The lawyers did not reveal the party or parties targeted by the complaint, saying only that the investigation would determine who were the “creators of this misogynistic, racist and sexist campaign” and would also be interested in all those who “facilitated this digital lynching.”
The Moroccan boxer found himself involved in the incident after he was accused on social networks.
Oumayma Belhabib is accused because she was a member of the Athletes’ Commission of the International Amateur Boxing Association (IBA), which decided to disqualify Imane Khelif from the 2023 World Championships due to excessive testosterone levels, which is actually the source of the controversy. , she qualified for the final.
The IBA returned to this accusation by reiterating its position at a press conference in Paris on Monday, August 5, discussing in particular the case of Imane Khalif.
2024 Olympics: Update on Imane Khelif – Oumayma Belahbib controversy
The fact that boxer Oumayma Belahbib is Moroccan doesn’t help either, as Internet users from both countries have been fighting each other over things that don’t really matter for years.
The two boxers have met in the past and the last word in the ring was spoken by the Algerian. The Moroccan failed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Apart from these reasons that could explain possible hostilities, there are no concrete grounds, such as public positions on social networks or in the media, that would allow us to formally accuse Oumayma Belahbib of being one of the instigators of the campaign against Iman Khalif. Neither she nor those around her have pointed the finger at her, even by innuendo.
But the controversy has intensified on social networks, especially since the Moroccan boxer publicly denied any involvement in the Imane Khalif incident.
On Wednesday, August 7, French newspaper Le Parisien revealed that the Moroccan boxer, who lives in France, has filed charges of “cyber harassment,” “insults,” “death threats” and “defamation” with the French judicial system.
Umaima confirmed and revealed in an interview with the same media that she had received thousands of “hate messages and threats” on social networks since August 1.
Campaign against Imane Khelif replaced by competition between Algeria and Morocco
Headlines in the Moroccan media have tried to use the opportunity to discredit the Algerian boxer. For example, the website Hespress wrote: “Already at the center of the debate over gender identity, gold medalist Imane Khelif is now at the center of another scandal.”
Or this incomprehensible headline from Actu Maroc: ‘Oumayma Belahbib is the victim of the Franco-Algerian dispute.’ The Moroccan online newspaper wrote that the incident was ‘exacerbated by the already high tensions between Morocco and Algeria’.
While waiting for the French judicial system to rule on the two complaints, the two boxers have not filed another complaint against each other, but the boxing match is likely to continue in the Algerian media and social networks, as well as among Moroccans.
Inevitably there are missteps, like the Moroccan page on X, “Atlas Patriote,” which goes too far by calling Iman Khalif a “woman beater.”
On the same topic:
Imane Khelif’s life of struggle: “I sold bread on the street…”
[ad_2]
Source link
