During the Olympics, British Judo Association (BJA) chairman Densign White criticised some members of the team for being soft and lacking commitment, while three-times Olympian Winston Gordon said British Judo was "rotting from the head".

At the point White expressed his frustration – with part of his concern being the number of judoka who chose to operate away from the British Judo performance institute in Dartford – only one of the eight men and women who had performed had won a fight, with Euan Burton and Gemma Howell suffering shock defeats.

Although the picture brightened as Gemma Gibbons (pictured top) took silver in the women's -78kg class and Karina Bryant won bronze in the +78kg category, there were clearly issues which needed examination – and this process is about to be carried out by a panel of high-level performance experts to complete an independent review of the elite performance programme.

London 2012 judoka Winston Gordon (in blue) has claimed British Judo is "rotting from the head"

Sir Clive, who coached England to the 2003 Rugby World Cup title and has been director of sport for the British Olympic Association since 2006, will be assisted by three fellow review members.

They are Mark Palios, the former chief executive of the English Football Association, Roy Inman, the most successful performance coach in British Judo history, and Dave Reddin, an elite performance expert and consultant who most recently served as head of performance services for Team GB at the London Games.

The BJA has announced it is "delighted with the calibre of the panel members and the range of expertise they bring to the table".

It added: "The review panel has been asked to review all elements of our performance operations and will make recommendations which will be used to inform our future strategy for Rio [2016] and beyond.

"They will involve a multitude of key stakeholders to ensure all views are considered."

Rugby World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward will chair the in-depth review into British Judo

BJA chief executive Scott McCarthy said he believed the British competitors had enjoyed a "successful Olympics and Paralympics" but added: "We are anxious to review and improve our elite performance systems.

"We know we can deliver higher level performance pathways and the findings of this high-level panel will directly inform our future planning.

"The entire association will engage fully and productively with this review, and hopefully there will be significant recommendations that will contribute to our future successes – I am looking forward to the final report."

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