IABA finally break silence on Billy Walsh, insist they are 'shocked' over his departure

THE IRISH AMATEUR Boxing Association (IABA) has finally broken its silence over the resignation of Billy Walsh as head coach of the High Performance Unit.

Yesterday, Walsh left for the US where he is set to finalise a contract with their women’s team.

Apart from a short statement issued on Monday night, the IABA had refused to make any comment on the collapse of negotiations with Walsh, who oversaw seven Olympic medals during his time in charge.

However, this morning, Joe Christle and Pat Ryan of the IABA appeared on the Pat Kenny show on Newstalk while their organisation simultaneously issued a lengthy statement on the issue.

Ryan explained the reason for the IABA’s silence was that Walsh was an employee of the organisation and so they could not comment.

“Up until Monday, Billy was an employee of this company and as his employers we are obliged not to discuss anything involving our employees. That’s the stance we have taken.”

Christle, chairman of the IABA, went on to clarify that a proposal presented by Sport Ireland to the IABA on 22 August was presented by him to his board on 25 August, but that he had taken the decision not to put it to a vote because he knew it “would not pass”.

“I did not want to get a knock back or a negative result that would a) have to be communicated on the website of the IABA and b) prejudice our future talks with (Walsh) to retain him.”

Christle went on to state that a further proposal brokered by Minister Michael Ring TD was agreed to in full by all parties and put to Walsh and his advisors.

“We met Billy and did a deal with him in the Institute of Management. (That deal) took into account the concerns of the IABA that had not been taken into account in the 22 August proposal.

“The three most important parts of any deal were, one, the finances to be provided by the Sports council.

“Second, that it was going to meet with the approval and satisfaction of Billy Walsh and, thirdly, that it would meet with the approval of the board of directors of the IABA.

“All of this was done with the full knowledge and approval of the Sports Council.

“In the meeting in the Institute of Management, the last thing that I said — having phoned each and every director of the IABA to ask for their approval, and I got their unanimous approval — I said to Billy Walsh ‘this deal must be acceptable to you’ and ‘must remove the threat of you going to America because that is what the IABA want.’

“He said to me, ‘I am satisfied with the deal.’ He looked me in the eye and he offered his hand and so did his advisor. That is a very important part of what we do in boxing. The last thing you do when you come out for a fight is that you shake your opponents hand and, when the fight is over, you shake his hand.

“That will be understood by boxing people and sports people.

“When I got into my car going home, I rang John Treacy (of the Irish Sports Council) to get up off his knees because the threat of Billy Walsh going to America is over.”

Zaur Antia will take over as interim head coach following Walsh's departure. Francis Myers / INPHO Francis Myers / INPHO / INPHO

After this meeting, contracts were exchanged but Christle says the next communication the IABA had with Walsh was his resignation on 19 October.

He  went on to confirm the agreed package included arrangements for the selection of all boxing teams to represent Ireland as well as bonus structures.

The chairman stated that team selection was under Walsh’s control, but would remain subject to the ratification by the Central Council “because it’s a rule, okay? Because it’s a rule.”

Christle added that the organisation now needed to “draw and line in the sand” and that Zaur Antia has been appointed on an interim basis as head coach to replace Walsh.

In a further development this morning, it has emerged that representatives from the IABA and Sport Ireland will appear before the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications on Wednesday next week to discuss the matter further.

Listen to the full interview on Newstalk here.

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