Sport Ireland has confirmed that the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) will lose 15 per cent of its funding with immediate effect after the organisation voted against plans for reform on Sunday. The sport, which has had serious issues surrounding governance for over a decade, declined to vote in required changes that would modernise the association and begin a process of gender equality at board level.
Sunday’s EGM decided not to reconstitute the board knowing that funding would be reduced in the sport unless change took place. Sport Ireland and Minister for Sport Jack Chambers have grown weary of boxing’s treatment of its high performance coaches and the squabbling within the organisation.
Dr Una May, chief executive of Sport Ireland, said on Monday that “serious and significant consequences would follow in the event of the IABA’s own governance report not being adopted in full.”
The sanctions will not have any impact on direct athlete funding delivered through Sport Ireland’s international carding scheme but further financial penalties will follow if boxing continues to ignore the need for reform.
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“Sport Ireland and the Minister have outlined to the board and executive of the IABA that it will now be required to present to Sport Ireland a comprehensive plan for real and meaningful governance reform within two months,” added Dr May.
“Failing this, further sanctions will be implemented. The two-month window is an opportunity for the IABA to recast its own future. A lot of the groundwork has been done and it is up to the leadership now in place to see if it can unify the sport and move beyond the current conflicts.
“It is important to stress that this is not solely about financial implications. The area of most concern here is the future of the sport of boxing in Ireland. All members of the sport here deserve an organisation that is run to the highest of standards and making the best decisions possible for that membership; this is not currently the case.”
Speaking on RTÉ radio, Minister Chambers said: “We have to set basic standards in sport. We’re giving two months for the IABA board to come back with positive steps on how they propose to reform and bring governance.
“If we don’t receive that by the middle of September, Sport Ireland will be communicating to the IABA that there will be an escalation of the current position, and in 2023 if there’s no reform there will be no funding at all.”
