THE president of the Ulster Boxing Council has defended encouraging members to back the current officer board of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA), amid a bitter split within the association.
Elections are due to take place at an AGM in Belfast on Sunday, November 28 – although the election looks unlikely to go ahead after an independent membership panel, appointed by the IABA board of directors, upheld an earlier central council decision to revoke the membership of those who had withdrawn support for central council.
Back in August, Leinster, Connacht and Dublin renounced the central council officer board, their stated reason for doing so because two further members were not elected to the board of directors.
It looks likely this latest development will result in an appeal through SDSI (Sports Disputes Solutions Ireland), which could push those elections back into 2022.
Kevin Duffy, Ulster president since 2017, has spoken out after seeing “misinformation” being shared on various social media platforms during recent months – with some criticism directed at the provincial body for encouraging members how to vote.
He said: “I, as president, and we as the Ulster Council respect the democratic right of all members to vote for whoever they want to represent them. We will never try and interfere with that - that’s each individual member’s choice.
“On this occasion, we indicated to Ulster membership who our preference would be as an Ulster Council, because we felt a lot of misinformation was being shared through social media in particular.
“Some of the misinformation that has been shared has caused a lot of unease and a lot of mistrust across the membership, and that’s very sad. That has been very negative for our sport.
“A lot of the details around this whole thing weren’t out there properly for them to make informed choices, so we felt it was important we do that.
“Still it is up to individual members to cast their own vote for whoever they want, and we respect that 100 per cent.
“But, as the Ulster Council and members of the IABA, we need to adhere at all times to the rulebook. We need to work within the rules of the association, and we need to respect the formal structures within the association.”
Regarding their support for the decision to revoke membership of members in Leinster and Connacht ahead of the upcoming elections, Duffy insists the Ulster Council had “acted in the best interests of the whole of boxing”.
“We don’t get involved in the running of boxing in any of the other provinces, and we respect their right to run boxing how they manage it - but obviously it has to be done within the rules,” added the Derry man, a coach at St Joseph’s Boxing Club.
“When decisions are being taken that affect the running of boxing right across the country, and we feel it could potentially damage boxing across the country, we have to vote on what we believe to be in the best interests of the whole of boxing.
“That is what we did. Unfortunately that has caused some divisions within the sport, and we hope that they can be healed over time. I’m still hopeful that this whole matter can be resolved. In Ulster we are doing our best to facilitate boxing, and to do it the best we can.
“I can’t speak for them all but, from what I hear, the vast majority of clubs want to get on with the business of boxing. They want to ensure the boxers have the best opportunities, that the clubs are supported the best way they can be in terms of finances and pathways for boxers to excel.
“That’s what really matters.”
