SJA to lead debate with key politicians on the future of British sport
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Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe will take part in the debate, hosted by the SJA
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SJA/UK Sport 02 February 2010
The Sport Journalists’ Association (SJA) is gearing up to host two exciting events in the coming months. The first will be a sports-themed Question Time-style debate featuring the Sports Minister and his counterparts from the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, and the second will be the prestigious annual British Sports Journalism Awards, sponsored by UK Sport.
With a General Election fast approaching, the SJA has secured the agreement of the Minister for Sport, Gerry Sutcliffe, and the sports spokesmen for the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, Hugh Robertson and Don Foster, to take part in a special debate on the future of sport in Britain on Monday 22 February in London.
The panel of MPs will answer questions from the audience on a broad range of sporting topics including the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, sporting television rights, the England 2018 World Cup bid and funding for sport and sporting facilities throughout the UK.
UK Sport’s Director of Policy and Communications, Tim Hollingsworth, said: “This will be a fantastic opportunity for anyone with an interest in the future of sport in the UK, to debate with the three key MPs how we can continue to succeed as a nation, both on the field, as we have seen with our Olympic and Paralympic athletes, as well as off it, in hosting major events and influencing international sport.”
UK Sport is the longest standing lead sponsor of the Sports Journalists’ Association, with a partnership that goes back more than a decade. The annual British Sports Journalism Awards take place on 8 March this year, also in London, and will see the likes of the BBC, Sky Sports, TalkSport and ITV go up against each other for the broadcast prizes.
The SJA have this week announced shortlists for the expanded sports broadcasting awards, with the BBC claiming 15 candidates across the broadcaster and programme categories in television and radio, to Sky Sports’ five shortlisted candidates, including four-time SJA winner Jeff Stelling.
The radio 5Live’s Sportsweek has dominated past programme prizes, winning for the past three years. In its new radio programme category, the Garry Richardson-fronted show faces opposition from outside the BBC from TalkSport, which has three shortlisted candidates for radio prizes.
Shortlists of six candidates in each of four categories - Television Broadcaster, Television Programme, Radio Broadcaster and Radio Programme - have been selected by a panel of sports broadcasting experts.
SJA members may select their favourite three candidates in each category. The closing date for all votes is 24 February. The SJA has doubled the number of broadcast prizes it will be presenting this year, to better recognise the outstanding sports broadcaster and sports programme in both television and radio.
For tickets and more information on both events, please click here.
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