Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“Today’s meeting with Sports NI -also attended by Kate Hoey MP, Nigel Dodds MP and representatives of boxing clubs – was useful insofar as it provided an opportunity to press upon the new acting Chief Executive, Arthur Scott, the urgency of addressing a nationality deficit issue, namely, the absence of a pathway for boxers within Northern Ireland who aspires to box for their national team, Team GB.
“Presently, clubs can only be affiliated to the Irish Amateur Boxing Association and in consequence can only box for Ireland. If they want to box for the UK, then, they must up sticks and join a GB club. This is not just wrong but a flagrant breach of the supposed guarantee in the Belfast Agreement that citizens in Northern Ireland have a right to express either their Britishness or their Irishness. The present arrangements prevent this, if you are a boxer wishing to box for the UK.
“Hence the need for a NI Boxing Association which could be internationally recognised and provide a pathway to boxing for the country of choice.
“It was disappointing that despite making this case at a meeting 6 months ago, Sport NI has been dragging its feet. The acting CEO promised to review the policy currently in place and we will meet him again in 6 weeks to hear his proposals on a way forward.”