France has launched a cyberbullying probe following a complaint by Algerian Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif, who was at the center of a gender controversy at the Paris Olympic Games, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The controversy has rapidly become a hot-button issue outside the ring, with politicians and celebrities, including Donald Trump and Elon Musk, weighing in, according to the “Ahram online” website.
The investigation was opened Tuesday into “cyberharassment” following the high-profile gender row at the Games, the Paris public prosecutor’s office told AFP.
The athlete’s lawyer, Nabil Boudi, said last week that Khelif, 25, had filed a complaint for online harassment, calling it a “fight for justice.”
“The investigation will determine who was behind this misogynist, racist, and sexist campaign, but will also have to concern itself with those who fed the online lynching,” he said at the time.
The Central Office for Combating Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes has been tasked with the investigation.
According to US magazine Variety, billionaire entrepreneur Musk and Harry Potter author JK Rowling have been named in the complaint.
Variety, citing the lawyer, said former US President Trump, the Republican party’s nominee in the 2024 presidential race, would also be involved in the investigation.
Khelif won the women’s 66kg final against China’s Yang Liu in a unanimous points decision, having been the focus of intense scrutiny in the French capital during the Olympics.
Together with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won the 57kg women’s final, Khelif was disqualified from last year’s world championships after they failed gender eligibility testing.
However, they were cleared to compete in Paris, setting the stage for one of the most significant controversies of the Games.
The row in Paris erupted after Khelif won her fight against Italy’s Angela Carini in just 46 seconds with two strong punches to the Italian’s nose.
Trump said he would “keep men out of women’s sports,” and his running mate, JD Vance, described the about as a “grown man pummelling a woman in a boxing match.”
Worth mentioned that in previous times, Elon Musk and J.K Rowling have been named in cyberbullying lawsuits filed by Olympic champion Imane Khelif.
