USSF Clears Official of Misconduct : Soccer: Out-of-house account administered by treasurer Groff calls into question accounting procedures and prompts changes by governing body.
Treasurer Richard Groff of the U.S. Soccer Federation has been cleared of any misconduct and given a vote of confidence by the USSF board of directors after an investigation into a bank account of more than half a million dollars that Groff opened.
The board met in Chicago Wednesday night and questioned Groff about an account he opened last year to administer the U.S. Cup ’92 tournament. As was allowed under existing bylaws, Groff was the sole signatory of the account, which held as much as $700,000. Groff opened the account in Horsham, Pa. The USSF is based in Chicago.
USSF President Alan Rothenberg, calling the incident “much ado about nothing,” blamed the USSF’s outdated regulations for any misunderstanding.
According to Rothenberg, the account was used as a clearing account for the U.S. Cup ‘92, a four-team tournament held last summer. Once the board heard all the facts, it voted unanimously to retain Groff and his role on the board of directors of the U.S. Cup ‘93, to be held in June.
“No one has raised any question as to dishonesty with respect to the handling of Cup ’92 or anything else,” Rothenberg said Thursday. “There was just the feeling that it was not proper accounting procedures to have any books and records off the premises or any accounts in the name of one party only or any significant-size checks that could be signed by one party only. That’s all been taken care of.”
Rothenberg called for a revision of bylaws regarding bookkeeping practices and said that all day-to-day books and accounts of the federation will kept in house by the USSF controller. In addition, all checking accounts will be maintained in house and will require two signatures.
The USSF has hired an accounting firm to audit last year’s financial statement.
“Unless the audit turns up anything unusual, I think it’s something that is behind us,” Rothenberg said. “I would characterize it as one of the last vestiges of moving the federation from being a mom-and-pop volunteer-operated NGB (national governing body), into being one that’s run on a full-time professional basis.”
