Two Kenyan referees qualify to officiate at Olympics

Referee Nelson Otieno (centre) during the fight between Kibra’s Abubakar Hakeem (left) and Douglas Muya from Thailand boxing club in their heavy weight duel during the Nairobi County Boxing Second Leg held at the Truth Club, Nairobi. August 5, 2023. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Two Kenyan referees and judges have qualified to officiate at the Olympics and World Boxing Championships.

The duo is Nelson Otieno of the Kenya Defence Forces and Samuel Obiero of Nairobi City County.

Officially, they are International Boxing Association (IBA)-Star 3-Qualified-Referees and Judges, having been examined and assessed by World-IBA Technical Experts in Conakry, Guinea, last month.

They qualify to officiate at the 2026 Olympic qualifiers and this year’s World Elite Men Boxing Championships, and have high chances of being appointed by the IBA if the trend of the global boxing body’s working format is anything to go by.

The qualifiers will be in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, from February 6 to February 22, 2026.

In the past, Kenya had only Nakuru-based IBA-Star 2-Referee-cum-Judge in Joseph Mwangi ‘Don King’ Muthoga, who was the most qualified official in Kenya and the region.

Muthoga had in the past officiated in local and regional championships and a number of Commonwealth Games across the globe.

Otieno was happy to have been promoted to the next level.

“I must thank BFK, KDF and my family for the support they have given me to reach these levels. It hasn’t been easy in the journey. Kudos also go to Raja Kumar, the chairman of Refs and judges in Africa,” he said.

Sam Obiero said he was ready for the next appointment, either at the Olympics or global championships.