Boxing Bosses Told to Toe Line or Be Counted Out

Five months from the Beijing Olympics, UK Sport has warned the Amateur Boxing Association that it will be stripped of its responsibility for Britain's top boxers unless it gets its house in order.

The body in charge of elite funding conducted a full financial audit of the ABA after being alarmed by reports of how it manages its £1.7m-a-year grants. Tales of unpaid invoices and broken promises led UK Sport to demand more oversight of the ABA's financial affairs. It will return to the sport's Sheffield headquarters in June to ensure that the remedial measures it has sought have been implemented.

Britain's elite boxers remain on course for success in Beijing, seven having qualified for this summer's Games.

UK Sport was complimentary about the head coach, Terry Edwards, but it has grave concerns about the ABA's performance out of the ring. "Enough is enough," said one senior official. "Do we pull out of funding? That is always a possibility."

The concerns came to light as part of UK Sport's Mission 2012 program, which is intended to produce more accountability in all the Olympic sports, which together enjoy £100m a year in lottery funding. Unlike sports such as sailing, cycling and equestrianism which also have strong hopes of medals both in Beijing and London in 2012, boxing was deemed "below a tolerable standard" with "wasted resources and harm to individuals and/or the world-class performance program".

Spurs' Lewis loses £500m

The collapse of the Wall Street banking giant Bear Stearns has caused Tottenham Hot spur's biggest investor, Joe Lewis, to lose £500m on an investment he made only in the past seven months. The Bahamas-based billionaire owned 10% of the failed finance house but banking sources close to the club insist it will not force him out of Enic, Spurs' parent company. Lewis is said to have built his position with cash purchases and it is thought that his overall multi billion wealth is such that the losses will not deeply undermine him. Although analysts expect the secretive Lewis to sell up other assets in an attempt to cover himself, he is said to remain committed to Tottenham, a relatively small investment. Meanwhile the effects of the credit crunch ran down the Seven Sisters Road to Arsenal. A rise in the inter-bank lending rate has pushed finance charges on their £100m floating-rate bond to close to £6.5m a year. Arsenal are expected to pay off that loan with soon-to-be-realized receipts on their Highbury Square development.

Haskell takes on Johnno

James Haskell, who won his sixth England cap against Ireland on Saturday, has launched a commercial rugby venture that will see him compete for custom with the Rugby Football Union-sponsored Martin Johnson Rugby Camps. The 22-year-old Wasps and England flanker is a fully qualified coach and believes that his youth will appeal to the Under-11 to Under-16 age groups that the RFU's £150-a-head Johnno Camps also cater to. Despite the competition the RFU welcomed the news that Haskell, left, was setting up the Young Guns venture - run by his father, Jonathan, and the county coach Mike Marchant - saying that it would be complementary to the sport's youth-development structures.

Pie in the Sky

Sky Italia has complained to the European Commission about recent legislation in Italy that has made the collective sale of all football clubs' television rights mandatory. The Italian authorities moved in an attempt to stimulate funding for Serie A's smaller clubs, enforcing a practice that has made the Premier League the richest in world football. It is deeply ironic that Sky Italia is objecting to the joint-selling practice that has made its sister company, Sky - the Premier League's main broadcast partner throughout its existence - such a success. Both companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp.matt.scott@guardian.co.uk