“It’s important that politeness doesn’t divert attention from the real problem” – Zakharova on the performance of an Algerian who failed the gender test at the Games

In the situation with the performance of Algerian Iman Khelif, who failed the gender test, at the 2024 Olympic Games, it is important not to avoid the real problem in the context of politeness, said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, on the air of the program “There is a Topic” on Match TV.

Khelif reached the boxing finals at the Paris Olympics. In 2023, the International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified Khelif and Lin Yuting of Taiwan from the World Championships in India for failing to meet the eligibility criteria. A gender test showed that the athletes had XY chromosomes. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed them to compete in women’s events in 2024.

— Should we respect a representative of the Global South from Algeria who failed the XY chromosome test? Are you at all surprised by what is happening at the Olympics?

— We must treat countries and peoples with respect. It is only important that politeness does not divert attention from the real problem. Sports and the world Olympic movement have become victims. At one time, about seven years ago, we raised the problem, but they laughed at us, said that it could not be that children would change their gender, that neutrality in this regard would be imposed. And today the world is horrified, the world does not know how to extricate itself from this monstrous web of lies and propaganda, which imposes on a person not just a false, but a distorted idea of ​​himself.

We have close relations with Algeria. But there are things that cannot be ignored, Zakharova said on Match TV.

The Olympic Games will end on August 11.

• “Ideally, there should be separate competitions for athletes like Iman Khelif” – boxer Amineva
• Vasiliev: “No matter how many female hormones they pour into Khelif, he’s still a man”