Italy’s Angela Carini quit her fight with Imane Khelif at the Olympic Games, amid a debate over the Algerian’s eligibility.

Italian boxer Angela Carini says she would like to apologise to her opponent Imane Khelif following the controversy that has surrounded their boxing match at the Olympic Games in Paris.

Carini abandoned her bout against Khelif just 46 seconds into the welterweight fight on Thursday, prompting a fierce debate over whether the Algerian should be allowed to compete at the Games.

Khelif is one of two boxers along with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting cleared to compete at the Olympics despite being disqualified from boxing’s Women’s World Championships last year for failing gender eligibility tests.

Carini claimed she had pulled out of her fight with Khelif after being punched harder than she had ever been hit.

“I am heartbroken,” Carini said. “I went to the ring to honour my father. I was told a lot of times that I was a warrior but I preferred to stop for my health. I have never felt a punch like this.”

The shock ending to the fight sparked a huge debate over the eligibility criteria for the Games, with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and former US president Donald Trump among those to comment.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a strongly-worded statement on Thursday, affirming Khelif and Lin’s eligibility to take part in the 2024 Games in Paris without specifically naming the pair.

“Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination,” the statement read.

“All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU).”

Speaking to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday, Carini said she wished to apologise to her opponent for her behaviour.

“All this controversy makes me sad,” said Carini.

“I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”

Discussing her decision to refuse to shake hands with Khelif after the premature ending to their fight, Carini added: “It wasn’t something I intended to do.

“Actually, I want to apologise to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke.”

Carini (right) wishes to apologise to Khelif (Image: Getty)

She added that if she met Khelif again, she would “embrace her” and apologise.

Khelif was disqualified from last year’s World Championships in New Delhi after she failed to meet the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) eligibility criteria, with the BBC reporting that she failed a testosterone level test.

While the IBA said in a statement that the pair had been disqualified “to uphold the level of fairness and utmost integrity of the competition”, the body also claimed that they “did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognised test, whereby the specifics remain confidential”.

“This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors,” the body added.

IBA president Umar Kremlev also told Russian news agency TASS at the time that both Khelif and Lin had “XY chromosomes”, according to a report from Reuters.

However, the Russian-led IBA has faced questions about its governance of boxing and in June of last year was stripped of its status as the sport’s world governing body by the IOC.

Boxing at the 2024 Olympics is instead being overseen by another body, the Paris Boxing Unit (PBU), which approved both Khelif and Lin to take part in the Games.

Lin beat Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova by unanimous decision in the women’s 57kg division on Friday in her opening fight at the Paris Games.

Khelif returns to action on Saturday, taking on Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori in a 66kg quarter-final contest at the North Paris Arena.