The 18-year-old from Westmeath, who is the reigning light-heavyweight European champion and ranked world number five in the division, suffered a major blow in April this year when he was controversially beaten 18-15 by Turkey's Bahram Muzaffer in the final European Olympic qualifier in Trabzon, despite many observers suggesting that Ward (pictured above, left) won the bout.

The defeat meant that Ward was left to hope for a wildcard entry from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Tripartite Committee which works with AIBA to distribute invitation places to the best boxers who narrowly miss out on qualifying for the Games.

However, the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) received a letter from AIBA saying that Ward had not been granted a wildcard spot for London 2012.

"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," read the AIBA letter.

"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."

IABA admitted that it was disappointed with the ruling but respects AIBA's decision.

"The IABA high performance head coach Billy Walsh has stated that he is extremely disappointed with this decision," an IABA statement said.


Ward's omission means that Ireland will have six boxers at London 2012 with five males and one female in Katie Taylor (pictured above).

It is Taylor who is Ireland's biggest Olympic gold medal contender as the 26-year-old lightweight from Bray has dominated her division for several years and last month picked up her fourth consecutive world title.

She is also the five-time European champion but will be looking for her first Olympic title as London 2012 will see the women's version of the sport make its debut on the Olympic programme in the three weights of flyweight, lightweight and middleweight.

Both the men's and the women's Olympic boxing competitions will take place at ExCeL in London's Docklands.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
April 2012: Ogogo and Taylor box their way to home 2012 Olympic spots