THE resignation of the president of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, Nicky White, now seems imminent. That impression had been growing since a heated meeting of the governing body of the association two weeks ago.

It now seems likely White, from the St Jude's club in Wexford, will inform the Central Council of the IABA of his decision to resign as president at its meeting on Saturday.

Contacted by The Irish Times yesterday, the president would neither confirm nor deny that he would be taking that course of action. "I will be attending the Central Council meeting in the National Stadium next Saturday and will make a full statement and tell the truth. I will not be staying long," he said.

Pressure on him to resign has reached a high point following his appearance at a club tournament in Maesteg, Wales, some weeks ago. The Maesteg club and several others in Wales are at logger-heads with the official Welsh Amateur Boxing Association and have been expelled or cut off from it.

After White attended an official international match between Wales and Ireland in Swansea early in the week, he spent some time with family members domiciled in Wales and then attended the Maesteg tournament. As a result, the Welsh association protested to their Irish counterparts.

In spite of the fact that White wrote a letter of apology and explanation to the Welsh body, there does not seem to be any mood of forgiveness either in Ireland or in Wales.

The attendance at the Maesteg tournament in turn brought about the resignation of the Irish treasurer, Martin Power, and the threatened resignation of the secretary, Joe Kirwan.

It also resulted in a concerted move against White in Munster, Ulster and Connacht.

There was also considerable support for White in many clubs around the country who were appreciative of his "hands on handling of their affairs whenever they came in conflict with what they saw as a bureaucratic attitude in headquarters.

White was elected to the presidency just over a year ago when he beat the long-serving president, Felix Jones, in a head-to-head election. He was the first to succeed after several efforts to unseat Jones who had fought off a number of challengers and who had been president since the early seventies.

A meeting of the Central Council was arranged for last week but was called off when White became ill. Saturday's meeting is now likely to be one of the most dramatic in a series of similar meetings and could have a profound effect on amateur boxing in Ireland.