NewWelsh boxing board boss pledges fresh start
THE newly-elected chairman of the Welsh Amateur Boxing Association says the sport faces a bright future after years when it has been mired in controversy.
Retired bank manager Derek McAndrew has taken on the top job months after Sport Wales threatened to pull all funding from boxing’s ruling body unless the then board quit.
In 2013 independent auditors issued a damning report over tens of thousands of pounds of public money spent by the body running amateur boxing in Wales, revealing that they could not rule out fraud.
More than 30% of all spending by WABA was unsupported by any documentary evidence, and there was a tendency to use cash for many large transactions.
The report by KTS Owens Thomas said the auditors could not satisfy themselves there had been no fraud at the body. It said the organisation was unfit for purpose and should not receive public funding.
The report said: “We have found some financial irregularities, including significant amounts of expenditure on international tournaments having insufficient supporting evidence.
“We have found examples of inappropriate purchasing. Many goods and services required by WABA were purchased by individuals and then reclaimed from WABA; this should not be necessary in a properly run organisation.”
The report, which was commissioned by the Welsh Government, Sport Wales and the WABA itself, had the remit to provide assurance that the WABA was fit for purpose and qualified to receive public money. But it felt unable to do so.
The report listed 77 payments by cheque or debit card amounting to £42,133 in the year to March 31, 2011, for which no supporting evidence could be found.
It said: “The largest of these amounts was for the activity ‘World Youth: £13,091’. WABA sent a team to the 2010 Youth World Amateur Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan which was held in April and May 2010. The expenditure is recorded in WABA’s accounting system as ‘Air: £5,841’ and “Accom & Exp: £7,250’.
“There is no doubt that a boxing team and officials from WABA attended the Championships and necessarily incurred expenditure in so doing. Our concern is that there is no evidence to support this significant expenditure.”
In March this year the WABA board was forced to resign over a “lack of confidence in governance”.
Sport Wales said it would not consider the organisation’s application for future public funding unless new directors were appointed – and it said it was clear the board was not following its own rules for recruitment, board meetings and other key decisions.
Following his election as WABA’s new chairman, Mr McAndrew said: “Amateur boxing is the safest of contact sports. There are far more serious injuries affecting rugby players and football players than those who box.
“And there are many young people across Wales who benefit from the discipline instilled in them when they box. The events of the past few years have been damaging for the sport’s reputation in Wales. Together with my colleagues on the new board, I’m sure we can now move forward into a bright new era.”