Athletics in the UK: The Rise and Fall of the BAF

92 A poisoned chalice? raised an issue that was never settled - that of the actual ownership of the rights attached to the event - and threatened to remove it from any future TV contract, thus potentially jeopardising the sport’s relationship with ITV. Despite many efforts to reach an agreement over the issue, it turned into a running sore that soured relationships between the BAF and the South. Then, in late 1996, when ITV had finally decided not to continue and the BAF was concluding highly delicate negotiations with Channel 4 television and sponsors for the forthcoming season, the South provocatively challenged the BAF to allow them to organise a second (televised) invitation meeting at Crystal Palace, to be called “The London Games”. At the same time, the AAA of England proposed a change to the Rules that would allow any region to negotiate its own television arrangement; which would, at a stroke, have destroyed the BAF’s ability to negotiate for the whole of the UK and risked a breach of contract with Channel 4. The AAA of England also refused to permit the BAF to incorporate the 1997 world championships trials within “their” AAA Championships. The AAA of England had steadfastly refused to recognise that it was only the “trials” within the AAA Championships that had kept them alive. Athletes could not risk missing the trials if they wanted to be selected for the particular international championship but there was no such imperative to contest the domestic AAA Championship. History and tradition were no longer enough to sustain “ the AAAs ” and this sad fact of life came true with a vengeance in 1997 when the AAA of England went it alone. With no TV coverage, hardly any sponsorship and few of the top athletes taking part, the historic championships were a sorry sight in a virtually empty Alexander Stadium, Birmingham. The infighting and general situation had deteriorated to such an extent that, when opening a meeting of the BAF Council on 18 th January 1997, Ken Rickhuss, the chairman, felt it necessary to state that “when he accepted the position of Chairman of Council, it was his hope to bring the various parts of the sport together. However this had so far proved unsuccessful and as a result of all the conflicts, he doubted that some people within the sport really wanted this” . At the same meeting, Radford reported that a contract had been secured with Channel 4 television for two years with an option for a further two but, when describing the conditions in which the negotiations had been conducted, said that “this instability (the problems in the sport) is not driven by those involved in discussions with major partners but from others