Former AYSO official denies charges

Deirdre Newman

NEWPORT BEACH-- The former AYSO regional commissioner accused of

misappropriating more than $100,000 claims he is innocent and says he

will pay back any money he owes if there were accounting errors.

Speaking against the advice of his attorney, who he said has

advised him not to talk about the matter, Anthony Anish said he is

not guilty of any improprieties.

“I’m not guilty of anything and I will defend it in the

appropriate forum,” the Costa Mesa resident said.

“If there are any bookkeeping errors and AYSO owes me any money, I

will expect them to pay me,” he said. “If there are any errors and I

owe AYSO money, of course, I will pay them, forthwith, as well.”

On June 20, AYSO filed a lawsuit with the Superior Court of Orange

County against Anthony Anish, the former commissioner of AYSO Region

97, which includes Newport Beach and part of Costa Mesa. The lawsuit

charges Anish with a variety of improprieties including

misappropriation and fraud.

Anish said he has been involved in youth sports for more than 20

years as a coach, referee and commissioner. For the last two years,

Anish said he committed more than 30 hours a week to the region.

“I believe that I greatly improved the quality of the AYSO sports

program in Newport Beach, giving everything I had,” Anish said. “What

has been stated is not true, and there will be a great deal of

information that will come out in the future.”

While AYSO has guidelines for regions to follow in keeping track

of their finances, Anish’s alleged flouting of these guidelines has

inspired Region 97 officials to increase their financial checks and

balances, said Mike Wade, the attorney representing the region. Anish

was accused of spending more than $100,000 on his company, to his

landlord and for four season tickets for a professional soccer team.

“We have put into place a regional auditor to report to the board

on a regular basis the financial condition of the region,” Wade said.

“And monthly financial reports are now being provided to all board

members. Although [these reports] were requested from Mr. Anish in

times past, he was never forthcoming with [them].”

Chris Sarris, who replaced Anish as regional commissioner, said

the extra measures were developed by a financial committee that

include himself and three other members in the region.

“I feel great about [the measures],” Sarris said. “Anytime one or

two people control all the assets, you’ve created a situation where

someone can take advantage of the community.”

Sarris mentioned a few other steps the region is taking to

increase financial accountability, including filling out purchasing

forms in triplicate and having the board vote on any contracts with

other entities that AYSO spends money on or could profit from.

The region also filed a police report for misappropriation of

funds on May 16, Wade said.

Mike Barr, the regional commissioner of Region 120, which covers

most of Costa Mesa, said he is not aware of any misappropriation in

his region since he first became involved with AYSO seven years ago.

He said his region follows the AYSO guidelines and officials try to

make financial information available to as many board members as

possible.

“I’m not sure what happened in Newport Beach,” Barr said. “I think

if the guidelines are followed, you should be able to avoid something

like this from happening. But it’s up to everyone on the board to

know those guidelines, too.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].