NZF board member Ormond calls it quits

A member of New Zealand Football’s executive committee has resigned following the Muir review.

Jon Ormond, who was elected to the board at the last congress in May, stepped down last week.

In his written statement to the board, Ormond took the view that the public findings of employment lawyer Phillipa Muir, in combination with the confidential briefing given to the board, made the position of president Deryck Shaw, and potentially the rest of the board, ‘‘untenable’’.

‘‘As is now a matter of public record, the recent NZF review also comprised a confidential briefing to the board about matters which fell within the purview of the review, but which cannot be published by NZF or the reviewer due to legal constraints, including obligations of confidentiality,’’ his resignation letter said.

‘‘I formed the view that when read together with the published portion, that the position of the chair, and potentially the board itself was untenable. The collective duty of a board has essentially made this a conscience vote. I respect those board members who prefer to act from the inside to effect change.’’

The remaining board members are Jon Ormond Shaw, Philip

Barry, Caroline Beaumont, Paul Cochrane, Mike Killick, Scott Moran, Rakesh Naidoo, Garry Carnachan and Johanna Wood.

Muir released her findings on October 3, after conducting more than 80 interviews since being appointed on July 6.

She found former Football Ferns coach Andreas Heraf breached NZ Football’s code of conduct and Worksafe New Zealand’s bullying guidelines while in charge.

Heraf resigned as Football Ferns coach and technical director on July 31. His resignation followed chief executive Andy Martin’s on June 29, the week after the review had been instigated following complaints from a dozen players and one staff member about Heraf’s conduct.

Muir wrote that while she had received ‘‘strong feedback’’ about Martin from a number of those she interviewed, she was limited in what she could say about him by the confidential terms of his departure from NZ Football.