He was on the club committee.
He was attending one of the football club’s regular meetings when proceedings gave him a hint that something was not quite right. Some of the figures being read out left him wondering. Over the following weeks he delved into the club’s finances. The further he went with it, the more obvious it became that the club’s manager was systematically moving club funds into his own private account. He had never liked the manager, always had a bad feeling about him. These were not large amounts but they were regular. Because it had being going on for more than two years, he realised that the amount being stolen would be building up. He loved his club and knew that he needed to speak up.
It was the first time he had ever considered being a whistle-blower. He gave it a lot of thought. He knew from news reports that people often ended up in strife when they were just trying to do the right thing. As a result of thinking it through, he decided to take a friend into his confidence. He knew that his friend had the skills he needed.
At the end of their meeting, the committee member asked, “You can do this without leaving a trace?”
“Yep. Sure can.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Not a problem. I’ll use a cheap prepaid phone, then throw it away.”
“OK we’ll save it for the big game.”
When the big day came the stadium was filled to capacity. Everything went as usual, with the huge crowd enjoying the game.
It happened at the half-time break. The large screens at either end of the field suddenly blacked out. Moments later the message came up in large letters.
‘Club funds are being syphoned off into the manager’s private account!’
A great murmur went through the crowd.