With the Billy Walsh situation extending far beyond boxing circles, the IABA have been fighting a losing battle to hold on to the last shred of dignity and respect in all this. They've now lost that battle. Before today you could have said maybe it's not as black and white as it seems. Maybe Billy Walsh is holding them to ransom and he's just playing the media game a lot better.
Nope. Those maybes can now be thrown away once and for all.
After his appearance on Prime Time on Tuesday, Chairman of Sport Ireland, Kieran Mulvey, was up in front of the Dáil Committee on Transport and Communications today and he delved further into the increasingly farcical situation which sees Walsh head to America despite the fact that he'd prefer to stay in his current role.
Mulvey's assertions before the committee do not make for positive reading.
In this proposed contract, Billy Walsh was told that he could not engage with the Olympic Council of Ireland, the Irish Sports Council or the media without the written permission of the CEO. Imagine Joe Schmidt being told he had to contact Philip Browne every time he wanted to announce a team. This is unconscionable.
That's the only summary of the situation that's needed right there. The head coach of the high performance unit was told he could not engage with the media without written permission from IABA CEO Fergal Carruth. That's a farcical undermining of his position and it gives the ultimate credence to suggestions that all Walsh wanted was the respect to be allowed to do his job without undue interference.
