Twist in bid to oust athletics chief

SPORT ENGLAND’S intervention in the political crisis at British athletics has invited accusations of a conflict of interest after it emerged that their chairman, Nick Bitel, uses a private email address to conduct Sport England business.

The crisis within athletics has been sparked by an attempt by key figures on the UK Athletics members council to oust UKA chairman Richard Bowker, who until taking up the position last year was a member of the london Marathon board.

Bitel intervened by sending a strongly worded email to England Athletics chair Myra Nimmo, who has been leading the calls for Bowker to either stand down or be removed.

Bitel warned Nimmo that a sport ‘consumed by in-fighting’ ran the risk of having its funding suspended.

But the email caused concern among senior athletics figures because it was sent by Bitel from his address at london Marathon, where he serves as the chief executive.

Bitel rejected accusations of a conflict of interest last night, the sports lawyer claiming he had ‘friends’ on the England Athletics board that he was closer to than Bowker. ‘Richard served on my board at london Marathon for less than two years,’ he said.

But he did confirm that the email to Nimmo was sent from his london Marathon address, and also said that he had never used his Sport England email address to conduct Sport England business.

All Bitel’s emails relating to Sport England are available via a Freedom Of Information request as per Information Commissioner guidance.

‘As chair of Sport England I would have to hand them over,’ said Bitel. Nevertheless, there remains a concern in athletics circles that his correspondence may not necessarily be on the Sport England server — when Sport England is a public body under the department for digital, Culture, Media and Sport — and is instead on the server of a private commercial enterprise.

‘ In this situation he opens himself up to an accusation of a conflict of interest and opacity when what’s required here is complete transparency,’ said a senior figure in British sport.

Bitel said: ‘I can’t make it any clearer in the email that it’s as Sport England chairman that I am sending it. It is entirely incorrect to suggest that (that a conflict exists).

‘I don’t have another email I use for these purposes. I’ve never sent an email from a Sport England account.’

England Athletics receives £7.3million in funding from Sport England. In his email Bitel made it clear to Nimmo that the money was now at risk.

‘At Sport England we have a substantial concern that a sport that is consumed by in-fighting is not one that is capable of devoting its time and attention to matters for which we fund it,’ he said.

last night the dCMS declined to comment.