General Discussion - BOA considers boycott of BBC Sports Personality of the Year amaimu - Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:23 pm Post subject: BOA considers boycott of BBC Sports Personality of the Year
in protest at the lack of women on the shortlist.
It is understood that senior BOA officials are weighing up whether to snub the annual showcase, which takes place at the BBC's new studios in Salford on Thursday 22 December, after the furore over the all-male shortlist.
The buildup to this year's awards, for which the world cycling road race champion Mark Cavendish is favourite, have been overshadowed by the row over the lack of recognition for female athletes. The BOA chief executive, Andy Hunt, was one of the most outspoken critics of the shortlist, compiled from the votes of 27 newspapers and magazines including lads' mags Zoo and Nuts, when it was announced.
On Twitter, he said the list was "flawed" and said it was "nuts that SPOTY have none of our outstanding women's world champions of 2011 on the nominations list". He added: "How can you have got this so wrong in not recognising the extraordinary achievements of women in sport!"
Aside from Cavendish, the other nominees for the 2011 award are: golfers Darren Clark, Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy, athletes Mo Farah and Dai Greene, boxer Amir Khan, tennis player Andy Murray and cricketers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook.
Hunt said he would have included the open water swimmer Keri-Anne Payne, rower Kath Grainger, swimmer Rebecca Adlington and England women's cricket captain, Charlotte Edwards, in his top 10. Prominent female broadcasters including Gabby Logan and Claire Balding also criticised the shortlist.
"The Sports Personality of the Year is a prestigious honour and, typically, the BBC does a fantastic job recognising truly deserving sports men and women. This year, however, there were some glaring omissions from the list," said a BOA spokesman.
"Whether we attend this year is less important than what happens with the award in the future. To that end, we are encouraged to see that the BBC will review the process by which the finalists and winners are chosen in subsequent years."
The show's editor, Carl Doran, has said it was a "shame" that no women had made the list but reiterated that the BBC had been using the same system since 2006 and that women had always been represented every other year. Zara Phillips was the last female winner of the award, in 2006.
Subsequently, the BBC said it would review the nomination procedure for the 2012 awards, which are expected to be dominated by medal winners at the London Olympics.
"It is too early to say what, if any, changes will be made to the process but please rest assured that we will seek the opinions of people both within and outside of the BBC before deciding on the appropriate methodology for 2012," said the BBC.