IFA chief comes in for criticism
IFA Chief Executive Howard Wells has been criticised by the government's sports agency for not putting a major software contract out to tender.
Sport Northern Ireland said the IFA's £510,000 deal with First Sports International (FSI) should have been more transparent.
The deal is now the subject of scrutiny inside and outside the IFA at a time when Mr Wells's job is up for renewal.
Mr Wells, 60, took over as the IFA's chief executive in January 2005.
He employed FSI, a company based in the United States and England whose clients also include the English FA, to help overhaul the organisation.
FSI, then known as First Wave, specialises in database packages for services such as player registration, coaching programmes and ticket sales.
Sport Northern Ireland, formerly the Sports Council, is helping the IFA through a tough period of change.
Tender process
At two early meetings, it told the organisation that procurement best practice would need to be followed.
Howard Wells then wrote to say he and the software company were "conscious this work would need to be tendered."
UEFA, European football's governing body, would eventually pay for the deal, but there would be no tender process.
Brian McCargo of Sport Northern Ireland told the BBC: "My understanding is it was worth more than £500,000.
"Good practice would suggest, in fact more than suggest, underline, that you should put it out to tender, absolutely, so it was fully transparent and accountable."
The deal not only cost £510,000, but a document seen by the BBC puts annual maintenance costs at anywhere between £60-£145,000
A key meeting of the IFA operations board took place in August 2005.
Howard Wells was present during a presentation by First Sports International and during follow-up discussions emphasised the importance of implementing the database system "immediately".
'Independent advice'
But the minutes did record that one board member, Alan Moneypenny, said the contract should be put out to tender and also the advice of an independent expert sought.
Mr Moneypenny, who has since resigned from the IFA, said: "I wasn't sure there was anybody present at that time who had the knowledge of IT systems who could make an authoritive comment on whether this was a good purchase or a bad purchase, no other reason than that."
Howard Wells's response was to say tendering had been his intention until "his research" told him FSI seemed the best choice.
At the time Mr Wells was a director and the second largest shareholder in a London company, Sportsgate Limited.
That company would become a business partner of First Sports International - winners of the IFA contract.
Mr Wells resigned from Sportsgate in October 2005 and sold his shares to a Guernsey-based trust.
He says that was all before FSI and Sportsgate became partners and there was no potential conflict of interest.
The ins and outs of the deal are currently being looked in an internal IFA review, asked for by Mr Wells.
Outside auditors are also moving in to the IFA at the request of Sport Northern Ireland and will, among other things, look at procurement practice.
IFA President Raymond Kennedy has also been called to a meeting at Sport Northern Ireland and will be asked about his chief executive's business interests.
