Daniel Doyle was a high profile guy.
He fraternized with global sports leaders, built a youth sports empire through his Institute for International Sport, and attracted the likes of Bill Clinton and Colin Powell to his World Scholar Athlete Games.
UCF wanted him, and it was apparent even though Doyle was amidst a spending controversy at the University of Rhode Island. UCF spent over $44,000 in consulting fees to try and convince Doyle to move to Orlando, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
That was until he was indicted on charges of forgery, seven counts of embezzlement, and obtaining over $1,000,000 in unauthorized bonuses from institute funds, according to the Rhode Island attorney general. These charges left people who knew him in disbelief and confusion, after all, he had some of the highest praise one could receive in his field.
“Dan Doyle continues to do the most amazing work I know of in the world of sport. The sheer magnitude and depth of the programs Dan has put out and the writings he has produced have made a greater contribution to the world of sport than anybody I can think of,” Dr. Lapchick, from UCF’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports previously said on InternationalSport.org.
Colin Powell, an aforementioned speaker at Doyle’s events, had nothing but high praise for Doyle.
“Dan is one of the greatest men I have worked with,” Colin Powell, former United States Secretary of State said on InternationalSport.org.
However, even after the indictment, Doyle may have had plans to still move to Orlando. According to the Providence Journal, Doyle had a judge rework his $1oo,000 bail so he could come to Orlando. This was quickly refuted when the Orlando Sentinel asked UCF about the plans on hiring Doyle.
“Once we learned of the indictment, we placed outstanding and future payments on hold,” said UCF spokesman Grant Heston.
Doyle, 64, claims that he violated no laws and the indictments essentially boils down to bad bookkeeping. Alan Hassenfeld, former head of Hasbro, Inc. and a huge supporter of Doyle summed it up well to a Rhode Island TV station.
“I think Dan Doyle had a dream, a vision. He executed it. And then something went wrong. I don’t know what went wrong,” said Hassenfeld.
