Irish Sporting Council chairman Kieran Mulvey has again reiterated his support for the departing Billy Walsh and warned that major changes are needed at the IABA.
Walsh, head coach of the High Performance Unit, resigned his post in exasperation over contract talks with the IABA which went on for over eight months.
The final straw appears to have come after a contract was agreed between Walsh, the ISC and the IABA only for the IABA to suddenly refuse to present that contract to their board.
"Imagine Joe Scmidt being told he had to contact Phillip Brown every time he selected a team"
Appearing before an Oireachtas committee Mulvey explained the timeline of event which have led to this situation.
"The contract was agreed, we shook hands on it and then it disappeared in the ether of the IABA sub-committees. We’ve never had an explanation.
"We met them on 20 August and we put the point to them, how urgent and essential this was to be resolved. That he (Walsh) had an offer from the US that he hadn’t accepted or signed but we needed to move.
"I got so upset at that meeting that towards the end I had to ask the directors present: ‘Do you want to keep Billy Walsh?’ I got an answer saying ‘yes they did’. It was the most unconvincing yes I’ve heard in my professional career."
Mulvey again insisted that money was never an issue for Walsh or the Sporting Council, but it was the non-financial demands of the IABA which led to Walsh resigning.
According to Mulvey the AIBA sought to control Walsh’s contact with the ISC and Olympic Council as well as the media.
"The high performance coach or head coach could not engage with the Olympic Council of Ireland, the Irish Sports Council or the media without the written permission of the CEO.
"Imagine Joe Scmidt being told he had to contact Phillip Brown every time he selected a team or he could talk to the media. This in unconscionable and it’s unacceptable."
Mulvey also went on to criticise the IABA's lack of reaction to Walsh’s resignation. Since the news broke that Walsh will be leaving, there has been almost complete silence from the IABA and their CEO Fergal Carruth - brother of Olympic medallist Michael Carruth.
"How is it that we've got to this stage? How is it that on 24 hours before Billy Walsh departs for the United States to take up an appointment that will put him in direct challenge with Ireland that all they say is a one paragraph ‘thank you very much and goodbye’.
"I've never seen such crocodile tears in my life.”
Mulvey also reiterated his warning that the behaviour of the IABA could affect their future funding, although he insisted that all boxers, coaches and clubs will be protected.
"In my five years as chairman of the Irish Sporting Council, it would be my view that what we’ve been trying to manage over the last five years is a dysfunctional arrangement. I’m putting it mildly when I say that.
"I made an issue around future funding. I am not threatening any boxer, any coach, any club - they will be protected by us," he said.
"What I'm saying is we are not happy at the top level at how this organisation is being run and it’s engagement with the ‘head coach’.
"They don’t even call him the Director of High Performance, which was the post we approved for funding.
"Gross disrespect has been show to us and the minister around this matter and it can’t be allowed to go on.
"It’s not about the clubs, it’s not about the boxers or the coaches... but we have a serious problem with the individuals leading this organisation at the top."
