No conflict of interest says GBGB's Haynes
John Haynes: 'no conflict'
PICTURE:Steve NashJOHN HAYNES, whose appointment as practitioner representative on the GBGB board was ratified on Friday but still remains yet to be officially announced, on Monday rejected the notion that his work as a track consultant to the UK’s greyhound venues – financed by the GBGB – leaves him in a compromised position.
“I’ve asked the board and they see no conflict,” said Haynes, who revealed that he has also taken on the role as chairman of the Federation of British Greyhound Owners’ Associations. “If I ever see a conflict on a particular issue, then I’ll stand out of it.
“What I do is go around the tracks, hopefully visiting each of them two or three times a year, offering advice and putting various projects in place. I’m currently at Wimbledon where we are looking at the camber on the bends – it’s a job I really enjoy and the facts concerning greyhounds being able to extend their careers bears out what we do.”
Haynes confirmed that he will not be seeking to regain the chairmanship of the Professional Greyhound Trainers’ Association when incumbent Norah McElllistrim steps down in the coming weeks.
“I’m not a trainer any longer, I’m an owner now,” he said. “That’s why I’ve taken on the FGBOA role. We’ve agreed with the Trainers’ Association and also the Breeders’ Forum that we will hold regular joint meetings at which I’ll report back to them as practitioner director.
“I do see my appointment as a permanent one, although it will obviously be discussed from time to time and I’ll stand down at some point.
“Whoever takes over the trainers’ role might want to challenge my leadership. There are ways and means of doing that, although I’d think that might be confrontational. That said, I do think there should be more representation for trainers than the Donoughue framework allowed for and that is definitely something I’ll be bringing up in the near future.”
Prior to his permanent appointment to the GBGB board, Haynes had stood in for the late Stuart Locke-Hart on occasions and said yesterday that his role has been expanding in recent months.
“It’s been an evolving situation,” he continued. “I used to attend committees as a consultant about track safety, but now I’m on the welfare and racing committees, sit on the trainers’ assistance fund, am a trustee of the Retired Greyhound Trust and also a member of the Greyhound Forum.
“All that is unpaid – I don’t get any fees and my time is free. I think it’s important to stress that. A lot of people probably see me as a suit these days and forget that I was a pretty good trainer once upon a time, getting Derby finalists and the like.”
One critic of the developments, though, was Martin White, chairman of the Greyhound Owners, Breeders and Trainers’ Association (Gobata).
“What’s happened is typical of the whole industry with deals done behind closed doors, no representation and no democracy,” he said. “It is one of the reasons why Gobata was set up and I’m determined to change things.”
Gobata claims that GBGB chairman Maurice Watkins has agreed to a meeting, with a statement on its website expanding its views: “The latest situation regarding the acceptance by the GBGB of what appears to be a self-nomination to the main board by Mr John Haynes, whilst seeming to comply with protocol laid down in GBGB Articles of Association, raises questions regarding the credibility of the whole process given that the nomination procedure has been deeply flawed, non-democratic and smacks of self-interest.
“GBGB was formed to govern the sport on behalf of, and accountable to, all licence holders as stated in Donoughue. This is clearly not happening and must be addressed imminently.”
