BOA May Boycott BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards

The British Olympic Association (BOA) is considering boycotting the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards after the BBC failed to include one female nominee in the prestigiuos ceremony

The ten-man shortlist, arthritis compiled by national newspaper and magazine sports editors, impotent is entirely made up of male contenders this year. The list features golfers Luke Donald, drugs Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy, cyclist Mark Cavendish, boxer Amir Khan, tennis star Andy Murray, cricket representatives Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, and athletes Mo Farah and Dai Greene.

The BOA is angry that female stars have been overlooked, with the likes of Rebecca Adlington left out despite winning gold and silver at the World Aquatics Championships this year.

BOA chairman Lord Moynihan and chief executive Andy Hunt are now widely reported to be considering a boycott of the awards night. However, such a move would mean turning their backs on Athletes, Farah and Greene.

A statement from the BOA read: “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.

“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.

“With next year being an Olympic year – and such an important year for British sport – this review is timely and will no doubt lead to an even better process going forward.”