{"id":291529,"date":"2023-09-06T19:36:05","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T19:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=291529"},"modified":"2023-09-06T19:36:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T19:36:05","slug":"stephen-lyle-early-frontrunner-to-become-bbcs-new-director-of-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/stephen-lyle-early-frontrunner-to-become-bbcs-new-director-of-sport\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Lyle early frontrunner to become BBC&apos;s new director of sport"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>EXCLUSIVE: Stephen Lyle emerges as the early frontrunner to become the BBC&#8217;s new director of sport after Barbara Slater announced she would quit in the spring<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Barbara Slater will retire after 14 years overseeing the BBC&#8217;s sport output<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Stephen Lyle has now emerged as the early frontrunner to succeed Slater\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Stephen Lyle has emerged as the early frontrunner to replace outgoing BBC director of sport Barbara Slater &#8211; who announced she would be quitting just six months after the Gary Lineker crisis.<\/p>\n<p>In a move which would see the former Channel 4 head of sport become the first person of colour to hold the role, which was created in 2000, insiders have disclosed BBC bosses are already discussing a replacement for Slater, who announced on Wednesday that she will retire in the spring following 14 years overseeing the broadcaster&#8217;s sport output.<\/p>\n<p>Slater, a former gymnast who competed in the 1976 Olympic Games, came in for criticism for her part in the Lineker saga. She oversaw BBC Sport&#8217;s response which saw the Match of the Day presenter taken off the air for publicly comparing the Government&#8217;s flagship illegal immigration bill to Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n<p>That decision, which triggered a backlash among staff with star names such as Ian Wright, Alan Shearer and Mark Chapman boycotting BBC programmes, was ultimately made by director general Tim Davie.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Slater, the first female to take the role, came under fire for the way the crisis was handled in a series of uncomfortable meetings with angry workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/06\/19\/75135929-12488681-image-a-25_1694025462407.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Stephen Lyle has emerged as the early frontrunner to become the BBC&#8217;s director of sport<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/06\/19\/75135961-12488681-image-a-26_1694025467804.jpg\" height=\"471\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Barbara Slater will step down from the position in the spring after 14 years in charge of output<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/06\/19\/75135993-12488681-image-a-27_1694025475350.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Slater announced she would be quitting just six months after the BBC&#8217;s Gary Lineker crisis<\/p>\n<p>A snap poll, seen at the time by <span>Mail Sport<\/span>, saw 80 per cent of respondents rate senior management zero out of five for the way they handled the situation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There was also open incredulity at Slater when she claimed bosses could &#8216;not have seen how it would spiral&#8217; after a host of pundits refused to work and brought the broadcaster to its knees after Lineker&#8217;s suspension. Amid a rift within the department, some felt Slater put the interests of &#8216;talent&#8217; above rank-and-file staff.<\/p>\n<p>Slater&#8217;s tenure saw the BBC lose the rights to a host of high-profile sporting events, including the Olympics.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement comes in the week of her 40th anniversary working for the BBC after starting in 1983 as a trainee assistant producer.<\/p>\n<p>Lyle, who had been series editor of Match of the Day 2 and a programme editor for Match of the Day and live athletics, rejoined the BBC in 2019 as head of cricket. <span>Mail Sport<\/span> understands that he was made head of football just last week following the departure of Steve Rudge.<\/p>\n<p>His return came after cricket returned to the BBC for the first time in 21 years.<\/p>\n<p>Marking her exit, Slater said: &#8216;A career in BBC Sport has been an absolute passion, never just a job. Since joining I&#8217;ve been privileged to have had such amazing opportunities and the delight of working with such talented colleagues and partners. There are a huge number of people to thank, and so many magical memories to reflect upon. &#8216;<\/p>\n<p>Davie added: &#8216;Barbara has had an extraordinary career at the BBC &#8211; a pioneer, innovator and outstanding leader &#8211; she has kept the BBC at the forefront of sport for a generation. I wish her well. She will leave the BBC with a tremendous legacy.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The BBC has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12488681\/Stephen-Lyle-emerges-early-frontrunner-BBCs-new-director-sport-Barbara-Slater-announced-quit-spring.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EXCLUSIVE: Stephen Lyle emerges as the early frontrunner to become the BBC&#8217;s new director of sport after Barbara Slater announced <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291528,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Stephen Lyle early frontrunner to become BBC&amp;apos;s new director of sport - 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