...Ex-champ drops boxing bombshell

A FORMER Trinidad and Tobago amateur boxing champion has described as a “bombshell” certain revelations concerning the performance of the outgoing  Amateur Association officials. And he is predicting that the information he had discovered, if properly understood, has the potential to scuttle whatever chances the incumbent officials have of being re-elected. The Amateur Association, headed by Mike Jarvis, president, is seeking another one-year term of office at their long-awaited annual general meeting scheduled for 5 pm at the Cosmic Boxing Gym in Marabella. But yesterday, ex-national middleweight champion Allan Ferguson accused the Amateur Association officials of acting ultra vires the constitution which he insisted was the most important aspect of their “misbehaviour” in office.

Brandishing a copy of the official annual general report of the Amateur Association for the 2001 term of office, the last time a report was presented, Ferguson pointed to the last page. On it is the financial transactions of the year which were only signed by the treasurer, Mario Robinson and president, Mike Jarvis. “This is where they went wrong. Because the Constitution of the Amateur Boxing Association of Trinidad and Tobago clearly states in Article 28 that audited accounts must be presented by the treasurer at the annual general meeting. “However there was no signature of an auditor affixed to the financial report which I interpret to mean that no qualified and recognised auditor had a look at the figures,” said Ferguson triumphantly. “That suggests that the report is bogus and has no locus standi and should be rejected. This leaves room for a lot of manipulation of the figures since there was no one to establish, according to the constitution, that everything was financially above the table,” said Ferguson. The assistant manager of the Revival Boxing Gym in East Dry, Port-of-Spain said the current administration have been consistent in not producing audited accounts and he fears a repeat on Sunday when club representatives meet to select a new executive to run their affairs.

Ferguson, a successful Central Trinidad businessman called on the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs to take an active interest in Sunday’s meeting to ensure that it is conducted fairly and above board. “We don’t want it to be rigged. The ministry must send observers,” said Ferguson. He said he will be lobbying for the new administration, which he is certain will be voted in on Sunday, to launch an immediate investigation into the conduct of the Mike Jarvis administration with a view to unearthing any mismanagement. “Then we will know whether to call in the Fraud Squad,” he said. Ferguson said he was strongly advising the incumbent officials to do the decent thing and stand down and allow another executive with fresh ideas to take office and work with the Boxing Board of Control for the ultimate benefit of the sport. “The present administration have put gyms against one another which has contributed to the decline,” he argues. He refuted claims by Cecil Forde, vice-president of the Amateur Association  that Trinidad and Tobago have progressed very well at the level of the Caribbean Championships over the past few years.

“The top boxing countries in the Caribbean like Guyana and Jamaica have been in and out of the CABA tournament over the years yet we have not been able to claim overall honours. We are boxing but not getting the results we want. We have not won,” insisted Ferguson. The outspoken Revival Gym official has been a vocal critic of the Amateur Association officers and last year his gym was slapped with a ban for remarks he made about the administration of the sport. Ferguson in turn closed down the gym in protest of what he termed victimisation of his boxers by the governing body. But after discussions between the parties attended to by an attorney-at-law for Revival, the club was re-admitted to the organisation.