The IKA media team continues to present interviews of the participants of the World Championship
Alquimedes Ortiz-IKA Referee (Dominican Republic)
I’m from The Dominican Republic. I also head the refereeing committee at the Pan-American Kurash Union. I am also the Vice President of the Dominican Kurash Federation.
You know, my initial specialty is a lawyer. I studied in this field. I also worked as a school teacher.
But sport has always been in the first place in my whole life.
I have been familiar with the kurash sport since 1998. As an athlete, I have achieved many achievements.
I have been working as a referee since 2006.
I am an international kurash referee. I have a level 5 Dan in Judo.
Tournaments, seminars and kurash championships are regularly held in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic can literally be called the center of the Pan-American kurash. This is a great support from the government in promoting the kurash of our country.
As you know, February 23 is defined as a Kurash Day in the Dominican Republic. In addition, kurash has also recently been included in the Universiade program as an official sport.
This will certainly serve to make kurash more popular.
We are working on improving the referee’s qualifications. In the Pan-American Kurash Union the quality and number of referees are growing day by day.
I was very glad that I was invited to the World Championship as an official referee. It is a great pleasure and a great responsibility. I express my gratitude to the President and the Technical Director of IKA for this.
Refereeing is a very difficult, but very honorable field. The role of referees in competitions is very important because they are responsible for the management of the competition and the application of the kurash rules. The role of the referee is fundamental to the good and proper development of the competition.
Today, the International Kurash Association is working on the basis of a systematic program for professional development and selection of talented referees. I am sure that they are making very positive steps towards the growth and organization of tournaments.