Troubled times for the British Equestrian Federation
An independent investigation is to be held following claims and counter claims of “unhealthy” behaviour and poor leadership at the highest level
FUNDING for equestrian sport could be thrown into jeopardy after the British Equestrian Federation’s
(BEF) outgoing chief executive Clare Salmon called for an independent investigation into the administration.
Ms Salmon, who took over the role in June 2016, confirmed that funding bodies UK Sport and Sport England had been alerted to what she considered “unhealthy” behaviour in the actions of some of the BEF’s member bodies.
“The BEF is 93% dependent on public money and that creates a huge responsibility to spend that money — which comes from taxpayers and lottery funding — in a responsible, accountable and transparent way,” she said. “The way the organisation is currently behaving and the culture of the organisation do not reflect those standards of integrity.”
Conflict between the BEF leadership and some of the Olympic member bodies has been simmering for some time. It came to a head in a meeting on 12 July between five of the 19 member bodies of the BEF and the BEF board.
The five member bodies put forward a series of concerns about the chief executive and the management, which led to BEF chairman Joanne Shaw announcing ”with great regret” last Thursday (20 July) that Ms Salmon had resigned.
“Her leadership and vision for an inclusive, accessible and sustainable future for equestrianism were warmly welcomed and supported by the board,” she said, describing Ms Salmon as a “driving force” in “reshaping the World Class programme to ensure the confidence of our funding partners”.
The statement added that in resigning, “Clare has raised significant and serious concerns about culture, governance and the interaction of some of the member bodies. The board considers that there are legitimate questions to be answered so is commissioning an independent investigation, on which we will report in due course.”
The five member bodies at the meeting — British Showjumping (BS); British Dressage (BD); British Eventing (BE); the Pony Club and the British Horse Society (BHS) — hit back with a counter statement. They said they had met with the board to “share our serious concerns about the leadership of the BEF, along with the way that the proposed changes in governance, strategy and structure of the federation were being managed”.
CONFLICTING VIEWS
THE joint statement added that “in light of the gravity and significance of the issues we raised with the BEF board 10 days ago”, Ms Salmon’s resignation was “the correct course of action”.
“We also welcome and endorse the board’s decision to announce an independent investigation into the serious concerns we expressed about the leadership of the federation,” they said.
Conflicts have arisen since a £1.2m drop in its funding led the BEF to axe provision for youth teams, leading to the loss of BS youth team chef d’equipes Matt Lanni and Alan Fazakerley, as well as some abrupt changes to long-standing World Class programme personnel.
The BEF also came under fire after the loss of long-term sponsors including Land Rover — a move the organisation defended, saying it was necessary to move from “in kind” and low-value sponsorship to more competitive contracts, as other funding sources declined. Just one new sponsorship contract — with Musto — has been put in place in the meantime.
Further clashes were triggered as the BEF is forced to restructure to meet new UK Sport governance requirements by a deadline of 31 October (see box, above right).
The BEF currently complies with around half of the code, but the most significant impact of new regulations is their effect on the
powers of the member council. Under the new terms, power would be handed to the board — which must consist of seven to 12 people, only a third of which can be member body representatives.
In effect, this would mean the member bodies could lose direct control on some issues.
Against this backdrop, Ms Salmon said she believed “several factors” had led to the circumstances around her resignation, but that one of the issues was “existential”.
“What does the BEF exist to do? If you think it exists only to support elite Olympic sport, then that’s a different version of the BEF than one that’s there to promote an inclusive and diverse audience, which is what sits in its articles of association,” she said.
BS chief executive Iain
Graham disagreed that this was at the root of the problems.
“In no way do we view the federation as being exclusive and it’s far stronger when we all work together — Olympic disciplines, non-Olympic disciplines and charities,” he said.
“Our concern was that the federation is in a shape for the future that enabled it to function even in a world with reduced funding, and that it complied with the new code of governance.”
A UNITED FRONT?
BOTH the BEF and its member bodies must now present a unified front as they have just a few weeks to move forward with the governance changes — which are likely to be presented at the AGM on 13 September.
A spokesman for UK Sport confirmed that it has a “very clear position” on organisations that do not meet the requirements of the code, and that they would “not be eligible for public investment”.
“National governing bodies of sport in receipt of public funding have a huge responsibility to invest it wisely and with transparency, and the Code for Sports Governance was launched to ensure those organisations have the highest standards of leadership,” they said.
The spokesman added that the organisation was “aware of the independent investigation the BEF is undertaking and supports this approach”.
Chris Smith, chairman of non-Olympic discipline British Carriagedriving — which does not receive funding from the BEF — said he felt “confident” that a unified approach to governance was possible.
“We’ve been involved in the BEF strategic review this year and I was part of a meeting of the steering group this week and we are making progress,” he said.
Responding to the recent conflicts, he added: “We are aware there is going to be an investigation about allegations that have been made, but we have not been involved in the making of them and not been privy to the detail. Provided a proper investigation takes place, it seems an appropriate way forward.”
‘The BEF
is 93% dependent on public money
and that creates a huge responsibility’
CLARE SALMON