WSA welcomes historical decision taken by members WRU
The Welsh Sports Association (WSA) welcomes the decision taken by member organisation the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) during its Extraordinary General Meeting on Sunday 26th March.
Member clubs of the WRU “voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Special Resolution… in a move set to irrevocably improve governance structures and change the face of the game in Wales for the better, forever,” as written on the WRU website.
A total of 173 members were represented, and a further 79 voted by proxy, with 245 votes (of 252 in total) cast in favour of the resolution, meaning the 75% majority for the motion to pass was easily exceeded (97.2% voted in favour).
“We now have a line in the sand from which we intend to move forward purposefully, swiftly and better prepared to serve Welsh rugby’s needs,” said WRU Chair Ieuan Evans as he addressed the EGM. “This is another historic day in the 142-year history of the WRU.
“From this moment on we will be much better equipped to overcome any challenges we may face, and I thank all members for giving us the tools to do a better job on their behalf.
“The repercussions of a positive vote today are nothing short of momentous and I am genuinely excited about the latent potential of our national game at all levels.”
The resolution means significant reform to the WRU Board, with changes taking place in context of the overall aspiration to ensure at least five Directors are women.
“We hope to complete the process for change by December this year, but the first steps will be taken immediately,” stated interim CEO Nigel Walker.
“This is just the beginning of a journey which will see the trust and faith of a nation in Welsh rugby restored and revitalised. There is a lot of hard work ahead of us, but this is a genuinely uplifting moment in the history of our game.”
The WSA is fully in support of the Governance and Leadership Framework for Wales which ensures the efficiency and wellbeing of the organisations and bodies that make up the sport and leisure sector in Wales.
The WSA offers a bank of resources to its membership base in order to support maintain good governance and are particularly delighted to a partner offer with CalQRisk, a Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) management information system provider whose innovative system – which aligns directly to all the necessary frameworks in Wales – allows sporting bodies to remain compliant with ease.
