Big pay gap irks Martina

London – Tennis great Martina Navratilova (above) accused the BBC yesterday of a “shocking” pay gap which saw her fellow Wimbledon pundit John McEnroe paid at least 10 times more than her.

Navratilova said she was paid around £15 000 by the BBC for her role as a commentator at Wimbledon, where she was crowned ladies’ champion nine times during her tennis career.

It wasn’t until the British broadcaster published the salaries of its highest-paid stars last July, in brackets of £50 000, that she realised fellow presenter McEnroe’s pay packet was between £150 000 and £199 999.

“Unless John McEnroe’s doing a whole bunch of stuff outside of Wimbledon he’s getting at least 10 times as much money”, Navratilova told the BBC’s Panorama programme.

The Czech-born American tennis star said she was told she was getting paid a comparable amount to men doing the same job.

“It’s shocking,” she told Panorama, adding: “It’s still the good old boys network .... the bottom line is that male voices are valued more than women’s voices.”

Responding to the allegations, the BBC said McEnroe’s contract is “entirely different” to Navratilova’s and the two are not comparable.

“The BBC believes her pay reflects what she is asked to do, her time commitment, her level of broadcast experience, profile and track record and expertise,” the broadcaster said in a statement, denying gender was a factor.