I dont see this as you are seeing when you say " By deferring to answer, he has committed the club to nothing publicly".
Sorry ORS, maybe this is about semantics/translation or something but when I read this question:
Q: Are you going to ban alcohol from the clubhouse?
and then the answer is:
A: We won't make that decision until we have a full staff convened.
Seems/Sounds to me that he leaves open the possibility since he said "decision" in the sentence -- allow beer in the clubhouse -- IMO you just don't allow it. You just don't consider it as a possibility at all. It is not prudent. It is not the place and moment, It is not a bar. It is wrong. But that's me.
IMO You take accountability and answer since you are/were part of this FO, and since this issue was already accepted by some players and agreed that it is/was a bad practice.
If he committed the club to nothing publicly, you answer something like "I won't declare about this topic" or something but you don't answer "We won't make that decision until we have a full staff convened"
Am I translating well? If not, I'm gonna fire my english teacher.