Tennis champ Navratilova says BBC cannot be serious paying McEnroe so much more

LONDON: Former tennis champion Martina Navratilova said on Monday she was shocked to discover that Britain's public broadcaster, the BBC, paid John McEnroe at least 10 times more than her for their commentary of the Wimbledon tournament.

Navratilova said she found out McEnroe made at least 150,000 pounds ($210,000) compared to her 15,000 pounds when the BBC, under government pressure, released a list last year of the earnings of its top earning presenters and journalists.

British companies are under heightened scrutiny over their pay structures and the BBC has faced criticism from women complaining they are paid less than men in equivalent jobs and misled about their pay to hide widespread gender discrimination.

"Unless John McEnroe is doing a lot of stuff outside of Wimbledon, he's getting at least 10 times as much money for very comparable work," Navratilova said in an interview to be aired on Panorama, the BBC's investigative programme, on Monday.

The nine-times Wimbledon champion said she was told she was receiving a similar amount to her male counterpart but she was clearly "not told the truth, that's for sure", she said.

Panorama estimated U.S. player McEnroe made about three times as many Wimbledon appearances as Navratilova resulting in the difference in pay. - Reuters