Team Wales declared their “bitter disappointment” after the boxer Fred Evans, an Olympic silver medallist, was ruled out of the Commonwealth Games because organisers refused him accreditation for the event. Evans, the welterweight who finished as runner-up at London 2012, has been denied the chance to compete for gold in Glasgow following a controversial decision by the Home Office and Commonwealth officials.
The reasons for the decision have not been confirmed but in April the 23-year-old from Cardiff was ordered to pay fines worth more than £1,000 after admitting his role in a nightclub assault in Birmingham. Evans did not travel with his fellow team members to Scotland on Tuesday and Team Wales issued a statement revealing their disappointment after lengthy discussions.
The chef de mission, Brian Davies, said: “Team Wales can confirm that boxer Fred Evans has had his accreditation refused by Glasgow 2014 based on checks completed by the Home Office and the Commonwealth Games accreditation decision board. Sadly he is therefore unable to compete at the Commonwealth Games.
“We have engaged in rigorous and thorough communications with all relevant bodies over the last few weeks, including putting forward two mitigation plans – unfortunately all of which have been unsuccessful. The key Welsh and British sporting agencies have been supportive in our attempts to get Fred to the Games and we are bitterly disappointed at the outcome.
“Fred is a world-class boxer and has handled this difficult situation in a very disciplined manner, continuing to work hard in the hope of a satisfactory resolution. We thank him for his professionalism and wish him all the best for his future ambitions.”
Evans had been tipped to challenge for a gold in Glasgow and there is no significant precedent for an athlete being refused permission to compete in previous Commonwealth Games because of a criminal record. Wales were already without a number of their high-profile athletes, with the cyclist Becky James and triathletes Helen Jenkins and Non Stanford missing through injury.
The Glasgow 2014 chief executive, David Grevemberg, said: “Every athlete is subject to the background checks that are conducted throughout the accreditation process. That’s made very clear up front and it was exactly the same process that was used in London 2012. We need to comply with UK-wide regulations. I think the nature of the Commonwealth Games is that this accreditation process starts in March and the team selections are roughly not until six weeks before the Games.”
Evans won gold at the 2011 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Turkey and joined the Great Britain boxing squad in 2009. He was also part of the British Lionhearts team that competed in the 2012-13 season of the boxing world series.
The Welsh boxing director, James Thomas, said: “Fred is the Olympic silver medallist and European champion and he wanted to come to the Games and win a gold medal. Obviously we were aware of his conviction earlier this year and we certainly don’t condone that kind of behaviour but sport is a fantastic vehicle for rehabilitation and we hoped Fred would have been able to continue to box and improve his lifestyle through the sport.
“Fred has been aware for the last two or three weeks of the battle we have been fighting and we have had some really good support from Sport Wales, the British Olympic Association, UK Sport and Team Wales.
“Fred has remained focused and committed in training and he has been the model professional athlete over the last three or four months. It is sad to see such a fantastic athlete go out when everyone would have loved to see him box. Fred is part of a close-knit team and he has wished the rest of the team well.”
