AGB in the news for the wrong reasons: "Sexual assault complaint made against coach"

steve Morley

New member
Hard to comment as not all the details available, let the courts make that judgement and we should assume innocence until proven otherwise.
 

Munsterman

Active member
trial by social media is not the way forwards. I hope this sad episode doesn't chum the waters for the usual AGB bashers
 

Eluned

Member
Well the BBC report does seem to state that the CEO has commissioned a report into the culture that has existed within the walled garden. I suppose he is not spending all that money on legal advisors etc. without a good reason. What might have given him the impression that the culture is suspect? OOOh; the culture might be dodgy. Really! Drain the swamp. (Ironic chuckle).

It is just so grubby. Oh, and grndkntrl, your acronym seems tasteless but ironically apposite.
 

Eluned

Member
Hey Munsterman, I thought you said that the world had moved on. Mind you, you have been saying that for several years now. Every day seems to bring the dawn of a new error on planet AGB. You just don't get it do you?
 

grndkntrl

Supporter
Supporter
Hard to comment as not all the details available, let the courts make that judgement and we should assume innocence until proven otherwise.
The thing is the coach involved had actually admitted his guilt in writing to both the archer & the team manager and "apologised" for his behaviour:

In a statement the athlete wrote after the incident, and which was subsequently forwarded on to staff at the governing body, she said the coach had acted "inappropriately", and offered her alcoholic drinks.

In further documents obtained by the BBC, the coach also wrote separately to both the athlete and a then team manager to apologise for his "totally unacceptable" and "not appropriate" behaviour.

However, the former team manager was then told the matter was closed after the athlete requested no further action be taken.


The team manager subsequently resigned, explaining at the time in private correspondence that "pressure was being put on me to be quiet about this incident and if I were to remain in my post the people above me would not allow me to follow up on my concerns".


The athlete has now told BBC Sport: "I didn't go through with a complaint at the time because I was put in a position where it was implied by staff that I didn't want to be the one to lose the coach his job and that I was new to the programme, and I didn't want to risk that either.

"I was worried I would lose my funding and position on the programme, but that should never have been the case. I should have felt like I could trust the staff to help me work through that time, not threaten me.

"They told me that if I dropped my complaint they would discipline the coach appropriately themselves. That was something they said to try to ease me I think.


"I'm doing what I should have done a few years ago and I am not afraid of them now."

The former team manager told the BBC he believed there had been a "cover-up", adding: "I feel that the incident was mishandled by AGB from the very moment that it was reported back to them, and that procedures that they had in place, which would normally be applied in these circumstances, were circumvented.


"I think that the incident was covered up firstly out of some sort of misguided loyalty towards [the coach concerned], but mostly to protect the reputation of AGB's staff and a fear of losing funding from their sponsors. I also believe that once they had made the decision...they were locked into a spiral of deceit they had to maintain in order to protect their own positions."

So it doesn't look as though he nor AGB have much of a leg to stand on given that it's all documented, and it seems like he was being protected by certain people within AGB.

There's simply no excuse for this kind of behaviour and it needs stamping out at all levels of sport, with a zero tolerance policy towards any offenders.
 

steve Morley

New member
"the coach had acted "inappropriately", and offered her alcoholic drinks."

That's not exactly a crime it may be against AGB rules and bad judgement from the Coach. Again lets see what happens in court before passing judgement
 

grndkntrl

Supporter
Supporter
Well the BBC report does seem to state that the CEO has commissioned a report into the culture that has existed within the walled garden. I suppose he is not spending all that money on legal advisors etc. without a good reason. What might have given him the impression that the culture is suspect? OOOh; the culture might be dodgy. Really! Drain the swamp. (Ironic chuckle).

It is just so grubby.
Well we can only hope that those who may have been involved in putting pressure on the athlete to withdraw her complaint, or be satisfied with just an apology from the coach, are held to account for their actions too.

Oh, and grndkntrl, your acronym seems tasteless but ironically apposite.
Why is it tasteless?

It's just a contraction of "ground control", and when I first chose it to use somewhere else online a few years ago there was already a grndcntrl in use by someone else as a shortened version of "Grand Central", so I changed the "c" to a "k" as the "c" in "control" sounds more like a "k" anyway.
 

grndkntrl

Supporter
Supporter
trial by social media is not the way forwards. I hope this sad episode doesn't chum the waters for the usual AGB bashers

Fair point.

And just to clarify, I'm not trying to push any agenda or fuel any AGB bashers, whether or not it's justified in other circumstances. It's just a shame that it's yet another sport in the UK that seems to not be able to escape such incidents.
 

Eluned

Member
Well we can only hope that those who may have been involved in putting pressure on the athlete to withdraw her complaint, or be satisfied with just an apology from the coach, are held to account for their actions too.



Why is it tasteless?

It's just a contraction of "ground control", and when I first chose it to use somewhere else online a few years ago there was already a grndcntrl in use by someone else as a shortened version of "Grand Central", so I changed the "c" to a "k" as the "c" in "control" sounds more like a "k" anyway.
Just to be clear, as I step further into the "treacle". "FFS" is the acronym in your OP.

With regards to the substance of your post. How surprising would it be to learn that AGB stalwarts at Lillishal may have rallied around to protect one of their own and themselves at the possible expense of the ethics of an international Olympic sporting environment. Of course nobody has been found guilty of anything within a court of law and so we must not be prejudicial with regard to allegations that have been made. Nobody has been found guilty of anything here. What we do have is a BBC report that uses certain documents to describe a situation within the AGB hierarchy and the PU. We know from the report that AGB money is being spent on legal specialists, for instance, and that the new CEO independently of this alleged incident, felt the need to instigate a fairly deep investigation into the culture that exists at Lilishall within the PU.

I strongly share your view; "Well we can only hope that those who may have been involved in putting pressure on the athlete to withdraw her complaint, or be satisfied with just an apology from the coach, are held to account for their actions too". Indeed I have been banging on that the way to change the culture into something more acceptable by modern competitive sporting standards is to introduce the idea of accountability for the behaviour of officers of AGB (from Directors to volunteer coaches) rather than a regime that focusses all accountability onto the athletes.
 

grndkntrl

Supporter
Supporter
Just to be clear, as I step further into the "treacle". "FFS" is the acronym in your OP.
Ah I misread your original reply and thought you were referring to my username.

Yes I used "FFS" as it's getting frankly ridiculous that we keep hearing about some sports coach (across all sports, whether it's archery, cycling, canoeing, swimming.....) who can't act with the professionalism & self control they are supposed to exhibit when doing their job.

All they end up doing is bringing their field into disrepute and fostering a lack of trust of coaches & management. We need more people to be interested in taking up sports and staying fit, not giving people more reasons to avoid it or lose interest in supporting it because it's perceived as a toxic environment.
 

chrisgas

Supporter
Supporter
I don't think for one minute that it is the sport that is the problem, wherever there is a man who feels that he holds power over someone and let's his nether regions rule his head there will be a problem. Then there are the loyal supporters "sometimes misguided" who would throw themselves in front of a train to protect their sport and it's "good name". They are human and unfortunately when they find people of similar traits and they wield power over others, be it parents, children or others climbing the ladder, then we find suddenly there is a scandal. "Some greater than others! I know of other sports that were riddled with similar to what happened in football but no one has blown the whistle. It seems that this is going to run and there are more people to face the music. So be it, I hope that it is dealt with correctly and they learn a valuable lesson.
 

Eluned

Member
Ah I misread your original reply and thought you were referring to my username.

Yes I used "FFS" as it's getting frankly ridiculous that we keep hearing about some sports coach (across all sports, whether it's archery, cycling, canoeing, swimming.....) who can't act with the professionalism & self control they are supposed to exhibit when doing their job.

All they end up doing is bringing their field into disrepute and fostering a lack of trust of coaches & management. We need more people to be interested in taking up sports and staying fit, not giving people more reasons to avoid it or lose interest in supporting it because it's perceived as a toxic environment.
No grndkntrl, that is definitely not; "All they end up doing.." Those who cannot act with "professionalism & self control" damage individuals and lives. Any tarnishing of a sport is of low consideration. When such a sporting body is a funded Olympic one and if the culture that has prevailed has been one that has institutionalised the kind of behaviour that works against those who would challenge inappropriate conduct, then such a sporting body is, in my opinion culpable and any tarnishing of its reputation is well deserved. Of course, Munsterman will hope that this report does not encourage those that he perceives to be AGB bashers. It is very clear to see where the Apologists concerns are. Label those with legitimate concerns about the culture within which the sport operates as "trouble-makers" and AGB bashers and in so doing suffocate the voices of concern about conduct within the sport. Without even touching upon the issue and nature of the core allegations within the BBC report, there is enough to give real concern amongst those who genuinely care about the sport with regard to the culture that is prevalent within the organisation.
 

Eluned

Member
I am in error in claiming that it was the new incoming CEO who instigated an independent review in connection with the culture at the PU. It would seem from the BBC report that it was the incoming Chairman, Mark Davies, who initiated it. According to "The Telegraph", Davies claims that he did not become aware of the incident until after he had put the review into place. Were the former Chairman and those assisting the new incoming Chairman with inducting him into his new role also unaware and that explains why Davies did not know about it from early on? I mean, surely in the light of the succession of appalling scandals that have emerged over recent years concerning abuse within institutions that are very much within the public eye, anyone who had such knowledge could not have considered the matter as insignificant?

In "The Telegraph" the former Team Manager is quoted as saying that;

"...he believed there had been a “cover-up”, adding: “I think that the incident was covered up firstly out of some sort of misguided loyalty towards [the coach], but mostly to protect the reputation of AGB’s staff and a fear of losing funding from their sponsors. I also believe that once they had made the decision...they were locked into a spiral of deceit they had to maintain in order to protect their own positions.”

If it is in anyway revealed that there has been a cover-up that in anyway or degree was motivated by a desire to protect Olympic funding or to hide the absence of proper and adequate policies, (or the failure to properly implement such policies), within the organisation then I for one believe that all public funding of the organisation should be immediately withdrawn. Yes this will be a cruel blow to innocent para Olympians who are working hard for Tokyo but if the reports in the BBC articles and "The Telegraph" accurately describe the regime at AGB HQ then the organisation should not be representing GBR with the support of public funding anyway. As for private sponsors, I guess that they are at liberty to determine what standards they wish to be associated with!
 
"FFS" is the acronym in your OP.
Point of Information: FFS is not an acronym. It's an initialism. An acronym is a set of initials that make a pronounceable word. FOFUSA would be an acronym.

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"FFS" is the acronym in your OP.
Point of Information: FFS is not an acronym. It's an initialism. An acronym is a set of initials that make a pronounceable word. FOFUSA would be an acronym.
 

Eluned

Member
A bit of an archaic approach, Telemachus. We will not squabble, I hope, about which end of the egg should be placed facing upwards in the egg cup but today the abbreviated form; " FBI" is considered as much an acronym as NATO. The important thing is that once my post was read for what was actually written rather than with a predisposition for what would be there, it was understood.
 

Eluned

Member
The word acronym came into use during the 1940's. Today its meaning has been commonly extended to all abbreviations that take the initial letters of each word. How archaic do you wish to be? All posts in Latin; Sanskrit; the language of Chaucer? Perhaps he would also have used FFS if only for its appropriate irony. Amusement and messing around with words aside, it is a very sad and somewhat grubby state of affairs that Lillishal finds itself enmeshed within. But, it is not the first time that the quality and nature of the culture at AGB HQ has been seriously questioned within the pages of this forum and it has formed a significant part of prophetic explanations over several years as to why the PU would fail and lose its blue chip event funding from UK Sport. Now if the power that tends to corrupt were removed from coaches and other staff in that selection for GBR shirts is achieved through the right of tourney and a proper national competition structure rather than subjective and questionable assessment and personal influence then the culture would move in a more wholesome direction.
 
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