Canoeing: Trio lead assault on board

Alan Thompson. Photo / Supplied

Political moves are now afoot to unseat the entire board of Canoe Racing New Zealand in the latest chapter of the saga following the axing of coaches Ian Ferguson and Paul MacDonald.

Alan Thompson, a fellow gold medallist with Ferguson and MacDonald and a member of the canoeing team which performed such medal-winning heroics in the 1980s, says the trio are planning a move at the sport's annual general meeting next month - to express a vote of no confidence in the board.

Thompson was a board member until he resigned in support of Ferguson and MacDonald last year.

The three have spoken out against the treatment of Ferguson and MacDonald and have been critical of CRNZ.

MacDonald has taken an employment action and they threatened to take CRNZ to the Sports Tribunal over what has become known as the "Fouhy clause", enabling top canoeist Ben Fouhy to compete overseas without attending selection trials - a move instigated after Fouhy quit the sport after differences with Ferguson and MacDonald.

Fouhy returned after being funded separately by Sparc so he could train apart from the national squad. This week Fouhy retired again after Sparc ended that independent funding. Sparc said Fouhy had been almost completely reintegrated into the national squad so there was no need to continue independent funding in addition to what they already provided to CRNZ.

The Fouhy camp said his independent funding was non-negotiable and were at pains to express more than one paddler could have gone to Europe under the clause. But now the focus shifts to the sport's AGM, held just before the national regatta next month.

"In the next 10 days or so, we are preparing remits for the AGM to remove the appointed directors and others so we can have a fully elected board," said Thompson. "We believe we will have the numbers around the country to achieve that.

"Obviously we are working the political traps - and so are the other side - but we have found there is major dissatisfaction with CRNZ, not only with the review of the coaches, the high performance and the Ferg and Macca thing but with grassroots issues like athlete development.

"Many people believe there are not enough kids coming through and that that has to be addressed; plus there are no pathways for coaching and development. There are also concerns about just how much money is being chewed up in administration costs."

Thompson said the trio had spoken to people who were "lining up" to get on to the CRNZ board. He would stand "and that will be all about saying something about the whole process and honesty and integrity of what has happened [to Ferguson and MacDonald].

"It's all about democracy and gaining control of the sport. If we are successful, we will come up with a plan to put in place very quickly."

CRNZ chairman Peter Fitzsimmons would not comment "until I have seen something formal" on the matter.

Thompson said he was mindful of the need for urgency he was hearing from grassroots level. However, removing the board was hardly a certain outcome.

"If we win, we win, and if we lose, well, it's all lost then."