The Irish Athletic Boxing Association has confirmed the expulsion of their Leinster Council, Connacht Council and Dublin Boards as an internal row in the Irish amateur game escalates.
In June, the two provincial councils and Dublin board - half of the island's six units - had withdrawn their support for the national body over a delay in appointing two new directors to the board, as was approved at the 2019 AGM.
In August, the IABA's Central Council passed motions calling for the affiliations of those organisations and the memberships of their directly elected officers to be revoked.
These decisions have now been approved by an independent membership review panel, comprising "two barristers and a corporate governance officer from another national governing body of sport".
An IABA statement said: "Those individuals in the three bodies concerned - the Leinster Provincial Council, the Connaught Provincial Council, and the Dublin Board - have now been informed of the decision which means that they are no longer members/affiliates of the IABA.
"It is important to note that all clubs under the auspices of Leinster and Connacht Provincial Council and the Dublin Board who have already affiliated to IABA remain affiliated, which means their boxers and training activities are insured and boxers can continue to compete in official IABA competitions.
"The Membership Panel 'found on examining the evidence that there was unanimous support for the decision taken by the IABA Central Council to remove those from membership/affiliation of the IABA. Individuals concerned who wish to appeal this determination may do so through SDSI (Sports Disputes Solutions Ireland) as per the rules set out by the IABA. We, as an independent committee, would strongly recommend that their memberships be considered at the next stage of affiliation opening to the IABA.'"
Pending appeal, the decision means that some candidates in the IABA's ongoing Central Council officer elections, such as vice-presidential candidate Tom Ward, are no long members of the association.
IABA president Dominic O'Rourke is being challenged by Munster Council president Gerry O'Mahony, who has the support of O'Rourke's home province of Leinster and Connacht.
The results of the postal vote will be announced at what promises to be a testy AGM in Belfast on 28 November.
Sport Ireland is currently conducting an independent review of IABA governance, which is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
An anonymous dossier criticising high-performance director Bernard Dunne and a row over whether Ireland should send a team to the recent men's World Championships are just two of the latest other controversies to convulse the association, which was recently quizzed by members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media.
