Debrett’s 500 List: Sport – Telegraph.co.uk

Delia Bushell, Managing Director, BT TV and BT Sport

Delia Bushell became managing director of BT TV and head of BT Sport in 2014, moving from a role as chief commercial officer at Sky Italia. BT has invested large sums of money in recent years in seeing off its competitors – particularly Bushell’s former employer, Sky – by securing exclusive rights, and notably acquired the rights to the UEFA Champions League from ITV and Sky. BT is also building a partnership with the BBC to strengthen links between paid-for and free-to-air television, with a particular focus on women’s football. In 2016, BT Sport won the rights to the 2017/18 Ashes series.

Baroness Sue Campbell, CBE, Head of Women’s Football, FA, 68

One of the most influential people in British sport, in 2016 Baroness Sue Campbell was announced as the new head of women’s football by the FA, and has stated her intention to improve coverage and attendance of women’s matches. Campbell is a former junior international pentathlete and netball player, and has represented her country as coach, player and team manager. The former chair of UK Sport, she was previously chief executive of the National Coaching Foundation for 11 years, before joining the Youth Sport Trust.

Greg Clarke, Chair, The Football Association, 59

In August 2016 Greg Clarke became chair of the Football Association, having spent six years as chair of the English Football League. He was previously chief executive of Cable and Wireless, a non-executive board director of BUPA and chair of the Met Office. Son of a cabbie, he was born and raised in Leicester and is a lifelong Leicester City fan. Following allegations of sexual abuse in football, he has been meeting alleged victims and drawing up plans to introduce safeguarding measures.

The Lord Coe, CH, KBE, Chair, British Olympic Association and President, IAAF, 60

Seb Coe presided over a second highly successful British Olympic and Paralympic performance at Rio in 2016, though his presidency at the International Association of Athletics Federation has been marred by allegations of corruption within the organisation and questions over blood doping in athletics. Britain’s greatest ever middle distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals in the 1980s and went on to oversee the London games in 2012. The event left a lasting legacy for British sport and transformed the Paralympic vision by aligning it with the Olympics.