UK Sport offers support to UK Athletics following latest crisis
By PA Media
Last Updated: 26/11/19 6:08pm
The new chief executive of UK Sport has not ruled out an official review of governance at UK Athletics following a series of high-profile crises embroiling the governing body.
Sally Munday is set for talks with UKA chiefs in the wake of the controversy surrounding the appointment and subsequent departure of its new chief executive, Zara Hyde Peters.
It follows the respective exits of former chair Richard Bowker and performance director Neil Black, following the team's failure to hit their targets at the recent World Championships in Doha.
Munday, whose organisation has funded athletics with almost £39mi for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic cycles, was asked about opening an official review and said: "We are in conversation with them about how we can support them to resolve their difficulties.
"We are going to be meeting them face to face again imminently to talk about what are the best next steps to make sure they are equipped to support their staff and athletes going to Tokyo.
"It would be very easy in this situation to make a knee-jerk reaction. Things unfolded pretty quickly over the weekend and I think it is appropriate to take a deep breath and sit back down with them face to face.
"We want to take the right course of action for UK Athletics and UK Sport. It is an open conversation about how we can ensure that athletics gets itself in the right place for the long term."
The departure of Hyde Peters from her £200,000-a-year role followed claims she failed to tell her local athletics club about her husband's "inappropriate relationship" with a 15-year-old schoolgirl.
A review of British Cycling, which was co-commissioned by UK Sport in 2017, was scathing of the organisation's attempts to cover up issues of bullying and other welfare concerns.
