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CHAMPIONING DIVERSITY: Lord Coe, left, was the keynote speaker at the 2006 Ethnic Media Conference, chaired by Patrick Vernon, right, where he pledged his support to ethnic minority media's involvement at London 2012

A DECISION to deny The Voice a press pass to London 2012 comes six
years after Olympics chief Seb Coe vowed ethnic minority media would play a
key role, it was revealed.

Lord Coe, chairman of London Organising Committee Of the Games (LOCOG), was the keynote speaker at the Ethnic Media Conference, held at the Royal
Society of Arts, seven months after London won the bid having sold the city's diversity as its biggest strength.

The specific purpose of the high-profile event was to ensure BME (black and ethnic minority) publications and broadcasters would not be overlooked when accreditation was being awarded ahead of the Games.

Equalities expert Patrick Vernon, who chaired the day-long event, said: "The
organisers wanted to get a commitment from Lord Coe to ethnic media, and this was the perfect opportunity.

"Lord Coe told me the only reason he attended was to ensure BME media was taken seriously. To find out BOA has denied The Voice accreditation undermines that commitment and undermines all BME media who are an independent voice reporting what is going on in the world today."

Lord Coe's promise was echoed by then Conservative Party chairman, MP
Francis Maude, and Labour peer Baroness Amos who all made a similar pledge, claimed Vernon.

Conference organiser Terhas Asefaw Berhe, who runs successful PR agency
Cultural Dialogue, backed Vernon's account.

She added: "Everybody left feeling positive. Maybe they [the speakers] meant what they said at the time, but failed to put systems and processes in place that would have ensured they delivered on their word.

"We don't know if any ethnic media publications were granted accreditation,
but if they won't give it to The Voice who will they give it to?"

NO TRANSPARENCY

At present, Britain's longest-serving black newspaper is
still without accreditation to the Olympic stadium as well as several other
BME publications and broadcasters despite public outcry.

The Voice requested only two passes in order to gain access to track and field events where almost 40 per cent of Team GB,­ including Phillips Idowu, Jessica Ennis and Christine Ohuruogu, are from an African and Caribbean background.

But the British Olympics Association (BOA) dismissed its application, and
instead invited The Voice to apply for football tickets as a consolation.

Yesterday, LOCOG announced it was forced to pull 500,000 tickets to football events, because of lack of interest.

BOA has a total of 470 media passes to be allocated to British-based news organisations excluding the BBC, Press Association, and other major broadcasters who are all accredited separately.

International media is also allocated separately by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Therefore the 470 passed have to be divided between Britain's sports wires, national newspapers – approximately 25 in total – as well as sports-specific websites, regional and local newspapers. Most local newspapers have been overlooked.

It has left many wondering exactly who has been accredited, and on what grounds.

The decision was at the discretion of a panel of journalists, handpicked by the BOA, allegedly "composed of representatives from a broad spectrum of the written and photographic press."

All of the 14 panel members are white, and 12 are male. Three of the panel
members have enjoyed long-term careers with the Telegraph, and two currently work side-by-side on Olympics website insidethegames.biz.

Despite several requests, the BOA has refused to reveal which organisations
have received accreditation or specific reasons why The Voice was overlooked.

As a national sports body, it is exempt from Freedom of Information
(FoI) legislation.

When the BOA were asked, in the interests of transparency, to reveal which organisations have been accredited, a spokesman said "they were not in a position to do so", but had no legitimate explanation.

It was revealed on Tuesday that the Jewish Chronicle, a specialist
publication like the Voice, had received accreditation.

David Mbaziira, head of marketing and communications at Sporting Equals, an organisation designed to promote equality in sport, said the snub was a
symptom of a bigger problem.

He said: "We know of BME organisations which provided the necessary
documentation within the time frame but have not had any meaningful response back.

"There has been very little clarification from BOA as to how those decisions
have been made.

"Ethnic media has a key role to play in boosting participation and promoting
sport to their audiences. Those message are not going to reach those
communities through mainstream media."

CAMPAIGN

Shocked readers have started a petition, which has gathered in excess
of 2,000 signatures from supporters.

London mayor Boris Johnson told The Voice he would be raising the matter with the BOA directly to ask them to urgently reconsider the matter.

MPs including Chuka Umunna, David Lammy and Tessa Jowell, the shadow
minister for the Olympics, were among the first to express their concern.

Jowell, who sits on the Olympic board, has also written to the BOA to urge
them to reconsider their decision.

Zita Holbourne who started the petition said: "There has been a catalogue of
errors around the Olympics and this is just one more thing.

"If the BOA are using blanket criteria to assess whether or not a
publication is suitable for accreditation has a disproportionate negative
impact on smaller and specialist publications like The Voice.

She added: "No accreditation for the biggest-selling black newspaper is just
atrocious."

In the diversity and inclusion strategy for London 2012, Paul Deighton, the
chief executive of LOCOG, said: "In order to stage a Games for everyone we
must create a truly inclusive culture where diversity is valued and
celebrated, a culture where everyone feels welcomed and respected.

"Every Games has its own passions and priorities. Diversity and inclusion is
a fundamental part of the 2012 Games and must remain at the very heart of
everything we do."