As if the British press weren't in enough trouble, they have this week contrived to come up with an all-male 10-strong shortlist for the 2011 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

I say the press, even though it is the BBC's baby, because the list was collated from a series of top 10 selections contributed by "a range of sports experts from newspapers and magazines across the UK".

This boils down to the main daily and Sunday papers, plus regional titles, The Voice and Sport Magazine, Nuts and Zoo.

It is not as if there was an active conspiracy to exclude female athletes, although the make-up of the nominations panel has not gone uncriticised.

Swimmer Rebecca Adlington (pictured centre) - along with F1's Jenson Button - was just one vote away from the shortlist, polling six votes (out of a maximum 27), compared with seven for boxer Amir Khan, the 10th athlete.


Keri-Anne Payne (pictured right), another swimmer, was bracketed with cricketer Graeme Swann and triathlete Alistair Brownlee one vote further back.

There were also some male athletes entitled to feel miffed at missing out on the shortlist.

Brownlee would be one – and I am frankly baffled as to why backstroker Liam Tancock failed to garner a single vote.

That is to say, an athlete who successfully defended a world title in thrilling style in a hugely competitive event fared worse in the poll than Manchester United reserve striker Dimitar Berbatov.

But not one female athlete!

That raises some fairly uncomfortable questions about the way the mainstream media looks at sport and, however strong the individual claims for inclusion of the 10 names on the shortlist, amounts to a monumental own goal.


You can tell how bad it is because Harriet Harman (pictured), arguably Britain's best-known (but hardly its sportiest) female MP, took time out from Autumn Statement day at Westminster to Tweet: "Why no women on @bbcspoty top ten? Should be celebrating our great women athletes. BBC think again."

Those last three words indicate that, while the selections reflect the views of the press and not the BBC, it may be poor old aunty who reaps the whirlwind.

And with the winner not announced until December 22, it promises to be quite some time before this one blows itself out.

You might be tempted to feel sorry for the Corporation: it was good enough to try to make the selection process more inclusive and now this happens.

I must admit though my sympathies are strictly limited.

For me, the whole idea of a shortlist is dubious.

Why on earth do we need it?

There is only one winner; I have no doubt that those who care are capable of communicating one name to the national broadcaster without having their choice artificially restricted for them.

I notice this is a public phone vote, so perhaps the use of a shortlist mechanism has more to do with the number of digits available to our decimal numbering system than anything else.


But to me this cheapens the process: if the Sports Personality of the Year is to be awarded by public vote, as befits it, then the public should be able to vote for whomsoever it chooses – even Liam Tancock (pictured).

Analysis of votes cast by the "experts" tends to underline the pointlessness of the shortlist that has landed our sportswriting establishment in hot water.

Four athletes – Rory McIlroy (golf) 27, Darren Clarke (golf) 26, Mo Farah (athletics) 25 and Mark Cavendish (cycling) 23 – polled more than 20 of the 27 possible votes and were well clear of the field.

While the golfing vote on December 22 is clearly going to be split – especially as a third golfer, Luke Donald, has also been shortlisted – I'd be flabbergasted if the eventual winner is not among this quartet.

The remaining six names on the list will probably be as superfluous – in terms of the competition – as a 25th window on an advent calendar.

What they have, of course, done is energise the very live debate about the way sport is covered in Britain in an unexpected and positive way.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 World Cup. Owen's Twitter feed can be accessed here.