Image caption Sports Minister Carál Nί Chuilίn said the board members resigned just before she was to meet them

Nine members of the Sport NI board have resigned with immediate effect.

Sports Minister Carál Nί Chuilίn said they stood down just before she was due to meet board representatives.

They were there to discuss a report by the Head of Internal Audit at the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and the Department of Education.

Ms Nί Chuilίn said she advised the remaining members at the meeting "of my deep concerns at the issues raised by their staff" with the internal auditor.

'Ongoing challenges'

On Friday, the minister called for the meeting to consider the findings of the report into "serious allegations" about the "leadership, management and the overall culture" of the organisation.

After Monday's meeting, she said she had accepted the board members' resignations, and thanked them "for their efforts in promoting and fostering sport during their time in office".

In a statement, she said: "Given the ongoing challenges in Sport NI, I am taking steps to intervene directly to support both staff and the remaining board members.

"I also wish to advise staff that their concerns are being taken seriously and that they will be fully addressed."

'Unprecedented'

Chair of the culture committee Nelson McCausland said the situation was "shocking and unprecedented".

"That is why we need to get Carál Nί Chuilίn in front of the committee as soon as possible," he said.

"It tells us something about the department and the way that the minister has been running the department," Mr McCausland told BBC NI's Good Morning Ulster.

"We also want to talk to the people who resigned, they have a story as well.

"It is a whole quagmire, we need to get to the bottom of it. The minister owes that to the public, to Sport NI and to the committee."

Ms Nί Chuilίn said she would meet the remaining board members later this week.

No-one from Sport NI was available for comment.