KEY POINTS:
Rowing New Zealand boss Craig Ross quit after money supposed to be spent on New Zealand-made boats was used to buy Italian equipment, it has been revealed.
Rowing New Zealand Chairman Bill Falconer said there were two specific cases where Italian-manufactured boats were acquired.
He said the Italian boats were trialled over the summer and found to be competitive so Ross ignored Rowing New Zealand's agreement with funding agents and went ahead and purchased them.
Falconer insists Ross was the only person who knew of the deal so he is the only person who will lose their job.
There was no suggestion Ross made any personal gain from that decision and all money had been used solely for the benefit of the sport, RNZ board chairman Bill Falconer said.
The overseas boats were used in the outstanding world championship campaign, in which New Zealand won three golds and two silvers.
Confirming the resignation, Falconer said in a statement today that the organisation received "unsourced comments of irregularities in the documentation supporting its applications for funding from one or more Gaming Trusts".
He said the board engaged an independent auditor to investigate.
"It transpired that the documentation supporting certain funding applications misrepresented the purposes for which the funds were required and used," the statement said.
"Specifically, in two cases the documentation indicated that the funding had been used to purchase New Zealand-made rowing skiffs, whereas overseas manufactured boats as used in New Zealand's world championship campaign this year were acquired.
"There is no suggestion that Mr Ross gained personally from these processes, and all of the moneys received from all Gaming Trusts grants have been used solely for the purposes of the sport."
Falconer said Ross accepted responsibility for what had occurred and tendered his resignation.
He said the board accepted his resignation.
"The tragedy is that if proper process had been followed internally and with the trusts, the same outcomes could well have been achieved."
He said that over the past four years Ross had made a major contribution to the re-establishment of New Zealand as one of the top rowing nations in the world, and in securing the hosting of the 2010 world championships.
Falconer said Ross would be missed and though rowing was now looking for a new chief executive, it may continue with an interim appointment until the end of the Beijing Olympics next year.
Ross could not be contacted for comment.
- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB
