Original article (in Albanian) was published on 11/11/2024; Author: Ilda Hoxha
Claim: A medical card reveals that Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is male
Verdict: Unverified
On November 4, local portals widely shared information about a medical report claiming that the Algerian boxer, Imane Khelif, is male.
‘A medical report recently made public has caused a major stir in the sports world, alleging that Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer who won a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, is actually male.
According to French journalist Djaffar Ait Aoudia, Khelif suffers from a condition called 5-alpha reductase deficiency. The report mentions the presence of internal testes and XY chromosomes in her body,’ reports JOQ.
Post shared by JOQ
For this shared information, the portal mentions a French journalist named Djaffar Ait Aoudia. The latter published an article on his portal ‘Reddux.info,’ where he stated that he had seen the medical records of the Algerian female boxer.
We conducted a search in international media as well, but we found that none of them reported on this claim, which alleged that the Algerian female boxer is actually male.
Following these claims, the team at ‘Facta news‘ carried out a verification, dismissing the report by the French journalist. According to the Italian media colleagues, Djaffar Ait Aoudia lacks prior experience in journalism, and they also confirmed that not all the journalists (or alleged journalists) mentioned in the ‘Opinion’ section are actually employed by the newspaper.
‘Cécile Debarge confirmed to Facta that she had never been part of the editorial team and had never collaborated with Le Correspondant,’ the Facta colleagues wrote.
In his article, Ait Aoudia states that he obtained Imane Khelif’s file from the ‘Kremlin Bicètre’ hospital in Paris and from the ‘Mohamed Lamine Debaghine’ hospital in Algeria. According to his report, two endocrinologists from these hospitals, Soumaya Fedala and Jacques, prepared a report in 2023 that claimed Khelif showed ‘genetic anomalies’ indicating she was male.
However, the report he published with photos appears highly questionable. First, Khelif’s name does not appear on the document. Even if it is a legitimate medical file, it cannot be confirmed that it belongs to the Algerian boxer. Furthermore, the signatures of the two endocrinologists are missing, and the document is cut off precisely where the doctors’ signatures should be.
Published document
Jacques Young, the endocrinologist who is said to have co-authored the assessment, told DW that his name was being misused to spread false information.
In light of these claims, the Facta team contacted the ‘Kremlin Bicètre’ hospital, which is suspected of having provided the medical report to Djaffar Ait Aoudia. However, the hospital clarified that it ‘does not release any information regarding medical confidentiality and, in particular, does not confirm whether a person has been examined.’ Therefore, it seems improbable that the hospital issued a patient certificate to the French journalist.Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, the gold medalist in Paris, sparked a major online debate due to controversies regarding her gender. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has told several newspapers that the boxer has taken legal action following reports labeling her as a man, based on unverified documents whose origin cannot be confirmed.
