Judge involved in Moorehouse defeat and Walsh ref ‘removed’ mid-Olympic Games

The referee and a judge for two of the questioned Irish Olympic exits was removed from the referees and judging selection pool during the Games. 

According to The Times, two boxing officials from Kazakhstan were stood down before the medal bouts. 

Between them, Alisher Altayev and Yermek Suiyenish had been involved in 50 fights, including two of the clashes that upset Team Ireland and the watching nation the most. 

Suiyenish judged 21 bouts before being stood down on August 4, one of those clashes was Daina Moorehouse’s defeat by France’s Wassila Lkhadiri in the round of 16.

Russia’s Sergei Krutasov and Azerbaijan’s Emil Gurbanaliyev, who, according to the Times were both deemed “high risk” by the McLaren report and stood down in October 2021, were also judges on that fight.

Suiyenish was also the referee for Grainne Walsh’s Olympic debut against Anna Luca Hamori, a fight that was less controversial but did prompt questions concerning the officiating.

Immediately after the result, many argued that Hamori’s disruption and holding should have been addressed and handled better by the referee. It was a point the fighter made herself, suggesting it played a part in what she argued was a below-par performance.

It hasn’t to be noted that Suiyenish was the referee for Gold medal winner Kellie Harrington fights and had Jack Marley down as a winner on his card when the Dub claimed victory in his Olympic debut.

The IOC revealed both Altayev and Suiyenish passed a vetting process and were used at several qualifying events for Paris.