Olympics:The Irish Amateur Boxing Association has confirmed that they have received final notification from the Tripartite Commission that national light-heavyweight champion Joe Ward will not represent the country at the London Games.
As reported in The Irish Timeslast Thursday, the Moate teenager will now miss out on a chance after he was controversially beaten by local fighter Bahran Muzaffer in the Olympic Qualifier in Trabzon in April.
The Tripartite Commission was first set up was to allow nations with little or no representation in the Olympic Games an alternative route to participation and was based on the principle of universal representation as specified in the Olympic Charter. Invitation places can only be allocated to countries with an average of six or less athletes at the last two editions of the Games.
As Ireland has six boxers in a team of over 50 qualified for London – five males and Katie Taylor – it is believed the commission’s stance was that Ireland and Ward fell outside their criteria.
Ward, whose world ranking has slipped in recent months from three to five is the European senior champion, a title he won in 2011 when he was 17-years-old.
Part of the notification sent to the AIBA states: “…following the Olympic Qualifying Guidelines approved by the IOC Executive Board, the next Best Boxer from the 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships is supposed to be selected. Following the Competition Protocol list, we regrettably found out that your boxer does not meet the qualification to be the next Best Boxer in your continent.”
In tonight’s statement, the IABA noted that “head coach Billy Walsh is extremely disappointed with this decision”.