The Wexford branch of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association has called on the association for fairness…
Two weeks ago, Belfast boxer Aidan Walsh was in Italy for a boxing qualifier. He was hoping to qualify for the Olympics, which are set to take place in Paris later this year.
Even though Wexford boxer Dean Walsh was crowned National Elite Champion for the previous two years, the St Ibars boxer was not chosen in Ireland’s selection.
Instead, they selected Antrim boxer, Aidan Walsh, a person who Dean had beaten one year previous on the national stage.
In his first attempt, Aidan failed to qualify for the Paris Oylmpics, losing out to Wanderson de Oliveira in the last32 in Italy on Thursday.
Since then, the Wexford IABA has called for fairness. In a public post, they have stated:
“The next Olympic qualifying tournament is in Bangkok in May. Surely now our current Elite champion, Dean Walsh, will get the opportunity at 71kgs to qualify. The IABA HP unit have failed to qualify an athlete at this weight for the Olympics having sent another, who had been practically inactive in competition for a year in Dean’s place. Surely now fairness and common sense will see Dean Walsh getting the nod. Surely amateur sport is primarily about fair play and winning an opportunity in open competition. Dean Walsh has been Irelands number 1 for the last two years running,” a spokesperson for the Wexford IABA said.
It’s not the first time that the Wexford IABA have highlighted Dean’s case publicly. Three months ago, when news of the selection emerged which included Dean’s absence, the Wexford IABA published a letter sent to the IABA which claimed that the association was discriminating against Dean Walsh.
Jason Redmond
From Gorey, Jason is the owner of Wexford Weekly. He is also a post-primary English and History teacher.