By CHARLES SALE
PUBLISHED: 21:55 GMT, 10 October 2013 | UPDATED: 21:55 GMT, 10 October 2013
The BBC, who were accused of derailing England’s doomed 2018 World Cup, are now being blamed for Istanbul losing out to Tokyo as hosts of the 2020 Olympics.
Advertising tycoon Sir Martin Sorrell, who worked on the Istanbul bid, told the Leaders in Football conference it was a ‘tragedy’ that Turkey had been passed over. He claimed the BBC’s coverage of the Taksim Square clashes in July between riot police and anti-government protesters had influenced the IOC vote in Buenos Aires last month.
Sorrell said the BBC had been ‘unfair’ on Turkey by ‘over-egging’ the Istanbul demonstrations and that the Turks strongly believed broadcasts by the Corporation and CNN had damaged their chances.
Blast: Advertising tycoon Sir Martin Sorrell
The England 2018 bid team, which included Sorrell, were extremely upset over the BBC scheduling a Panorama programme about FIFA corruption in the week of the Zurich vote.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘The Istanbul protests were a significant news story. We are satisfied our coverage was accurate and impartial.’
The FA are looking at a possible bid for the 2024 European Championship. Turkey would be hot favourites if they prefer that option to hosting the semi-finals and final in 2020 when the tournament is spread across Europe.
Sorrell, meanwhile, told LiF that entertainment and media agency WME, along with venture capitalist company Silver Lake, was hot favourite in the forthcoming $2billion sale of sports marketing giants IMG. If so, that would mean Ari Emmanuel, co-CEO of WME and brother of former White House chief of staff and current mayor of Chicago Rahm Emmanuel, becoming one of world sport’s most powerful figures.
via Charles Sale: BBC ‘cost Turkey 2020 Olympics’ | Mail Online.