Archive April 17, 2025

A “prominent” Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) official has been found to have breached its ethics code after a claim that they “spent an inordinate amount of time with a volunteer of the opposite sex” at a social event related to CGF business.

In a decision published on the CGF’s website, the chair of an ethics commission panel states that the unnamed individual admitted allegations that they “failed to act with the highest standards of integrity”.

The official – referred to only as ‘AB’ – is also said to have accepted acting “in such a way as to give the appearance of impropriety [and] to have the potential to bring the Commonwealth Games into disrepute”.

The CGF revealed that in October 2024, a senior CGF figure received a report that ‘AB’ “may not have acted with the appropriate level of ethical conduct whilst performing a CGF related role”.

AB is described as “prominent in the Commonwealth Games Federation”.

An investigation was then conducted by an unnamed London-based lawyer, referred to in the published decision as ‘CD’, who acted as an ethics officer in the case, and charged the official in February.

Their report “included a summary and analysis of a first-person witness to the alleged unethical conduct”.

“The report documents that AB, while at a social event related to CGF business, spent an inordinate amount of time with a volunteer of the opposite sex,” the CGF added.

“The first-person witnesses were uncomfortable with AB’s behaviour…It is clear these witnesses had concerns about the potential to bring the CGF and/or CGF Officials into disrepute, to the extent that they took photographs of AB with the volunteer.”

The ethics commission chair noted that the official insisted “nothing inappropriate happened at the event”, and “states that they have agreed to the allegations and acceded to the proposed sanction to allow the Ethics Commission to hear the matter with a chair as a single person panel”.

However, the chair also concluded that “the evidence before me indicates that AB’s actions denigrated the perception of the integrity, of the potential for the appearance of impropriety, and the possibility of bringing the image of the Commonwealth Games into disrepute”.

In an intriguing twist, the panel chair also claimed that the official suggested to the lawyer that they “should mitigate the sanctions” and that the lawyer acted inappropriately by proposing modified sanctions after the charges were initially delivered, giving the official “opinions or advice that goes well beyond the Ethics Officer role of providing information”.

“I have further determined that CD has, in effect, conducted what would be characterised as plea bargaining with AB, after AB had received the Notice of Charge” said the chair. “I find this to be highly inappropriate.

“CD should not have made any modifications to the charges or the sanctions, as that is in the sole purview of the Ethic Commission at a hearing, and only after a hearing is requested by the covered person.”

The chair also revealed that they rejected a suggestion by the reprimanded official to not publicly disclose the outcome of the case, stating that “not disclosing the decision could create a reputational risk for the CGF and possibly subject it to allegations of cover up.”

However, the chair said that they have chosen not to reveal the individual’s identity because based on the investigation, “no harm was done to any person, there does not appear to be any risk of harm towards any person or persons”.

They also noted that “AB is not the subject of a provisional or sanctioned suspension or expulsion where their identity must be provided in order to ensure compliance; and that the sanctions proposed by CD and accepted by AB are on the less severe end of sanctions spectrum”.

It is also noted that the decision “shall be posted on the Commonwealth Games Website under the relevant section concerning the Ethics Commission, and shall not be posted on the ‘News’ feed. The decision will be posted for a period of 28 days only”.

It was a performance that could prove to be career defining.

Declan Rice cost Arsenal £105m, has played in two European Championship finals with England and won a European trophy at former club West Ham.

Yet it feels the Arsenal midfielder has truly announced himself on the world stage over these two legs in the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.

No matter how good a player may be, how obvious the quality, it can require a special performance in the biggest of games for people to really take notice.

If they still weren’t paying attention after his two stunning free-kicks at the Emirates last week, there could be no ignoring Rice’s brilliance at the Bernabeu as his side won the return leg 2-1 to book a semi-final meeting with Paris St-Germain.

“He turned the game around,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports. “He was immense, he made a difference.”

There had been some concerns the second leg may turn into a nervy evening for Arsenal, despite their three-goal advantage from the home tie, but Rice was having none of it.

The England man, 26, was everywhere, stepping in to stop Madrid’s star-studded attack one minute, driving Arsenal forward in attack the next.

If any of his team-mates shared some of the fans’ pre-match apprehension, they need only have looked at the manner in which the 26-year-old – who joined the Gunners in 2023 – assumed control for the reassurance they needed to put out the holders.

The night, though, could have turned out very differently for Rice after he was adjudged to have pulled down Kylian Mbappe in the penalty area with the game goalless, earning him a booking too that would have ruled him out of the first leg of the semi-final.

However, the decision was overturned by a video assistant referee (VAR) intervention and, rather the scare negatively affect him, Rice gave a thumbs-up to the referee and continued as if it had never happened.

“What a two games to cement yourself as one of the best midfielders on the planet,” ex-Arsenal centre-back Matthew Upson said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“Declan Rice is doing it in these two games.”

Former England defender Rio Ferdinand added on TNT Sports: “You need games like this in your career. You need to get to places like this to be properly judged.

“He’s stood up against the holders of this trophy and he’s not just competed, he’s run the show, he’s run the show in both games. He’s put himself in another bracket.”

Rice’s five interceptions over the two legs were the most of any player involved, while he also had the joint-most shots on target (four).

He has seven goals across all competitions this season, matching his previous best in a single campaign.

Any list of the world’s most complete midfielders must now include Rice and he has fully deserved the plaudits.

“It is such a special night for this club, a historic night for this club. We had an objective in this competition – we want to win this competition,” he told TNT Sports.

Achieve that objective and this performance might come to be remembered in the same way as Roy Keane in Turin – when the Irishman’s inspired display helped Manchester United to a comeback win over Juventus to reach the 1999 Champions League final. Or Steven Gerrard’s heroic efforts when Liverpool fought back from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan on penalties to lift the 2005 trophy in Istanbul.

It was a performance that could prove to be career defining.

Declan Rice cost Arsenal £105m, has played in two European Championship finals with England and won a European trophy at former club West Ham.

Yet it feels the Arsenal midfielder has truly announced himself on the world stage over these two legs in the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.

No matter how good a player may be, how obvious the quality, it can require a special performance in the biggest of games for people to really take notice.

If they still weren’t paying attention after his two stunning free-kicks at the Emirates last week, there could be no ignoring Rice’s brilliance at the Bernabeu as his side won the return leg 2-1 to book a semi-final meeting with Paris St-Germain.

“He turned the game around,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports. “He was immense, he made a difference.”

There had been some concerns the second leg may turn into a nervy evening for Arsenal, despite their three-goal advantage from the home tie, but Rice was having none of it.

The England man, 26, was everywhere, stepping in to stop Madrid’s star-studded attack one minute, driving Arsenal forward in attack the next.

If any of his team-mates shared some of the fans’ pre-match apprehension, they need only have looked at the manner in which the 26-year-old – who joined the Gunners in 2023 – assumed control for the reassurance they needed to put out the holders.

The night, though, could have turned out very differently for Rice after he was adjudged to have pulled down Kylian Mbappe in the penalty area with the game goalless, earning him a booking too that would have ruled him out of the first leg of the semi-final.

However, the decision was overturned by a video assistant referee (VAR) intervention and, rather the scare negatively affect him, Rice gave a thumbs-up to the referee and continued as if it had never happened.

“What a two games to cement yourself as one of the best midfielders on the planet,” ex-Arsenal centre-back Matthew Upson said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“Declan Rice is doing it in these two games.”

Former England defender Rio Ferdinand added on TNT Sports: “You need games like this in your career. You need to get to places like this to be properly judged.

“He’s stood up against the holders of this trophy and he’s not just competed, he’s run the show, he’s run the show in both games. He’s put himself in another bracket.”

Rice’s five interceptions over the two legs were the most of any player involved, while he also had the joint-most shots on target (four).

He has seven goals across all competitions this season, matching his previous best in a single campaign.

Any list of the world’s most complete midfielders must now include Rice and he has fully deserved the plaudits.

“It is such a special night for this club, a historic night for this club. We had an objective in this competition – we want to win this competition,” he told TNT Sports.

Achieve that objective and this performance might come to be remembered in the same way as Roy Keane in Turin – when the Irishman’s inspired display helped Manchester United to a comeback win over Juventus to reach the 1999 Champions League final. Or Steven Gerrard’s heroic efforts when Liverpool fought back from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan on penalties to lift the 2005 trophy in Istanbul.