Denise Lewis stood down as the president of UK Athletics (UKA) this week because of pressure from the BBC, with the broadcaster concerned that her position as a pundit at this weekend’s World Indoor Championships would be compromised.
The Times understands there was little if any concern expressed by UKA, or, more specifically, the UKA members board that the 51-year-old former Olympic heptathlon champion was meant to lead until she “temporarily” resigned on Tuesday.
Lewis was not present to chair the previous meeting of the board in Birmingham on February 17. That responsibility fell to the vice-president, Hannah England, with Lewis only arriving about two hours into the discussion.
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At that point she revealed to members that there was an issue with the BBC but that she hoped it would be resolved, citing the fact that no such objections had been raised when she became president of Commonwealth Games England.
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However, the BBC viewed her remunerated role at the top of the national governing body as a problem, with the concern around her integrity as a pundit central to the tense discussions that took place between BBC Sport bosses and Lewis’s representatives at M&C Saatchi Merlin. In the end, Lewis was left with a decision to make and she chose to continue her work as a paid pundit through to this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
The statement Lewis issued on social media — to the surprise of UKA — suggested that she hoped to return to the role of president after the Olympics in Paris. “I’ve had to make the difficult decision to temporarily step away from my role as UKA president,” she wrote.
But that is not necessarily going to be the case, with some senior UKA figures questioning whether it is appropriate to have an acting president during an Olympic year. Sources have suggested the board may need to seek legal advice on the matter.
There is talk of England stepping up, temporarily, from vice-president but she too works for the BBC, principally as a co-commentator. Wendy Sly, who lost out to Lewis for the presidency, is the managing director of the magazine Athletics Weekly, which presents another potential conflict.
Perhaps the best option, in the longer term, could be Paula Dunn. The former sprinter was due to stand against England for the vice-president role but had to withdraw from the process when she was asked to step in as the interim head coach for UKA before the Olympics, after the sudden and unexpected departure of Stephen Maguire.
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The BBC has stated that it will not comment on individual contracts.
The corporation issued the same response to The Times this week when asked if Michael Johnson’s announcement that he planned to launch a new international athletics competition — to rival the Diamond League events that fall under the jurisdiction of World Athletics — could also present the BBC with a problem. Johnson is also due to be a pundit in Paris this summer.
