NZF’s award up for review

Sport New Zealand may review its decision to award New Zealand Football’s executive committee (ExCo) the Governance Mark.

The ExCo and NZF were the first national sporting organisation to receive the mark when Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson presented it to them on March 7.

The mark is meant to last for three years before it is reviewed, but on Wednesday, Phillipa Muir’s critical review of both NZF and the ExCo’s conduct in recent times threw doubt on whether they should keep the award.

SNZ chief executive Peter Miskimmin said, in a statement, SNZ would review Muir’s report before making any decision on the Governance Mark.

‘‘We will review all aspects of the report that relate to governance. From there we can consider if and how these reflect on the Governance Mark.

‘‘Until then it would be inappropriate to speculate as to what, if any, implications there might be.’’ To receive the mark, the ExCo had to ‘‘demonstrate a considered process for development of strategy and an ongoing regime for monitoring efficacy of that strategy’’.

The business of the organisation had to be considered to be conducted within a clear ethical framework. That included accountability to stakeholders. Here’s what Miskimmin said in March:

‘‘Attaining the Governance Mark requires sporting bodies to demonstrate that their board is functioning to a high standard and following good practice, with processes in place for director recruitment, clarity on roles, well-structured meetings and a culture of external accountability.

‘‘Achieving the Governance Mark is a clear signal that New Zealand Football’s executive committee is well-positioned for the future.’’

Muir delivered her scathing report 211 days later. ‘‘ExCo has been too ‘hands off’ in its governance of the high performance area (and some HR matters) in recent years and needs to obtain greater reporting from management,’’ she wrote.

She took aim at the ExCo signing off the decision to allow former technical director Andreas Heraf to also become Football Ferns coach.