Israel Adesanya is sorry for his comments about Imane Khelif.
The Algerian boxer has been at the centre of a gender identity storm ever since she beat Angela Carini of Italy in just 46 seconds in her opening bout at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Khelif and Chinese Taipei featherweight Lin Yu-ting were disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) during last year’s World Championships for failing to meet gender eligibility criteria.
But they were controversially cleared to return to competition for Paris 2024 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The case has aroused global interest, with figures such as former United States president Donald Trump and Harry Potter author JK Rowling weighing in on the issue.
Adesanya also had his say after mistakenly believing that Khelif was born a man before transitioning to become a transgender female.
“Men should not be boxing women,” the UFC star tweeted alongside a video of one of her old fights.
“LOL he couldn’t even finish her. Anyway, People > politics.”
Adesanya has since apologised for his words after admitting that he misunderstood the situation.
talkSPORT
