Government funding to SJAI may be withheld

Government funding for show jumping, both for the current year and in the future, appeared to be under serious threat last night, following a meeting between the Irish Sports Council and the Equestrian Federation of Ireland (EFI) to discuss problems within the Show Jumping Association of Ireland (SJAI).

No monies have been paid out to the SJAI by the federation this year and, although neither the sports council nor the EFI were forthcoming with their comments last night, the most likely scenario is that there was insistence at yesterday's meeting that the 1998 funding be withheld from show jumping until specific criteria - particularly complete accountability - have been fulfilled by the SJAI.

Carefully worded statements from both the equestrian federation and sports council chairman John Treacy officially said nothing other than that the two sides had met and that the EFI is now to seek a meeting with SJAI representatives.

But, reading between the lines, it seems that the SJAI is in danger of losing both the £53,000 that was allocated to the sport from the EFI's £200,000 sports council funding for 1998 and, possibly, all future funding.

EFI secretary general Ned Campion said in a three-paragraph statement issued yesterday that the meeting with the SJAI would "discuss the fulfilment of criteria necessary for the disbursement of funds allocated by the Sports Council".

Treacy said that discussions about the problems within the SJAI had been "full and open", before stating that he would have no further comment until the federation had come back to him.

Although there is no official timescale, he agreed that a second meeting between the two sides was "imminent".

The association seemed to have weathered the worst of the storm earlier this week with the appointment of a new national chairman and the reinstatement of director general Tony Kelly, who returned to his desk on Wednesday after a 13-week absence following his resignation in August.

But the SJAI looks likely to be hit amidships by another tidal wave if sports council funding is withdrawn.

The problem stems from queries over the SJAI's 1997 accounts and, until these are cleared up, neither the 1998 allocation from the sports council nor any future funding will be made available to an association that is already suffering a cash-flow problem.

The SJAI's 1997 accounts have now been audited and, together with accounts for the years 1992-96, were lodged with the Companies Office at the end of September. Tax clearance certificates, which are required by the sports council, have since been forwarded to the EFI, the umbrella organisation governing all equestrian sports.

But there are ongoing investigations within the SJAI into a fall in the association's 1997 income, with a decrease of £100,000 being discussed at the recent a.g.m.

All sports council grants are dependent on complete accountability within the individual sport's governing body and, although the EFI can claim to have its financial affairs in order, the SJAI certainly cannot while queries still hang over last year's balance sheets.

Campion said yesterday that he would be seeking a meeting with the SJAI's new chairman Ado Kenny "as a matter of some urgency", but said "it would be unfair to say any more until discussions have taken place".