KUALA LUMPUR: The father of Algerian boxer Imane Khelife has dubbed criticism and attacks on his daughter as "immoral and unfair".
Imane made headlines worldwide earlier this week after her opponent, Italy's Angela Carini, quit just 46 seconds into their fight at the Paris Olympics.
Carini claimed that Imane, who failed a gender eligibility test at last year's world championships, should not be allowed to compete in the women's category and blamed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for her inclusion.
Imane's father, Amar Khelife, however, defended his daughter and said that the attacks on Imane are a ploy to prevent her from winning a medal.
"The attacks against her are immoral and unfair," he told Daily Mail yesterday.
"Imane has loved sports since she was a little girl, she used to play football.
"The criticism and rumours are to destabilise her, they don't want her to be champion of the world."
Amar went on to produce an official document - dated May 2, 1999 - showing that Imane was born as a female.
The IOC has defended its decision to allow Imane to compete in Paris, emphasising the fact that Imane was born a female and has lived her life as a female and thus is "not a transgender case".
They stated that testosterone testing, which Imane failed at last year's world meet, is "not perfect" as many women can also have "male levels" of testosterone.