IN THE MONEY: UKAD spend £40K on Prince Andrew’s spin doctor

Britain’s drug busters UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) hired a PR firm founded by Prince Andrew’s spin doctor in a dramatic bid to improve their damaged reputation in the wake of a Mail on Sunday investigation.

The guru, Mark Gallagher, nicknamed ‘the backroom fixer’, was hired in 2020 in a bid to repair the Prince’s standing after the Jeffrey Epstein scandal left the reputation of King Charles’ brother in tatters.

The Mail on Sunday has found that UKAD paid Gallagher’s firm, Pagefield, £43,208 of British taxpayers’ money after this newspaper exposed UKAD for allowing British Cycling to perform their own internal drug tests in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics in London.

A subsequent World Anti-Doping Agency investigation found UKAD’s actions were ‘inconsistent’ with the WADA code, the rules governing how national anti-doping agencies must work.

UKAD were given a formal reprimand by WADA for telling British Cycling about an anomalous finding in a rider’s urine sample — then let British Cyling probe it themselves as London 2012 loomed into view. British Cycling could find no innocent explanation for the trace of banned steroid nandrolone but didn’t tell UKAD this, and nor did UKAD ever ask for an explanation.

With the money they spent on Pagefield, in effect to try to repair their own reputation, UKAD could have instead hired two full-time intelligence officers to help chase down leads and expose drugs cheats in elite British sport.

Asked why they had spent so much money on an external PR man after the MoS had revealed UKAD’s shortcomings, a spokesman said: ‘UKAD is a public sector body and we have a responsibility to our audience to communicate in an effective and balanced way. 

‘At the time of this hire, the communications team balanced several ongoing campaigns alongside their press office responsibilities, so a media consultant was brought in the short-term to support the team with their workload.’

Barnes’ business goes bust 

Football legend John Barnes has failed to settle a £300,000 tax bill with HMRC, prompting his media company to go bust.

Liquidators were appointed to the 59-year-old former Liverpool and England star’s company last week. The liquidation of John Barnes Media follows a High Court order given to wind the company up over the unpaid debt. 

Barnes has failed to settle the debt since the order was made in March and, as a result, he could also face bankruptcy. 

It is the seventh time Barnes has been the subject of a bankruptcy petition from HMRC. He set up the company in 2012 to handle the pay from his broadcast work.

John Barnes set up John Barnes Media in 2012 to handle the pay from his broadcast work

Play-off final winners guaranteed at least £204m 

The winners of Saturday’s Championship play-off final between Luton and Coventry are guaranteed at least £204million in a game that has become known as the most lucrative single fixture in global team sport.

That sum is cash the winning club will receive — even if they finish bottom of the Premier League next season — that the losing club will not.

Luton Town will take on Coventry City in the final of the Championship Play-offs next week

Both clubs are hoping to return to the top flight after long absences with Coventry last in the top-flight in 2000-01

Both clubs are hoping to return to the top flight after long absences. Luton were last in the old First Division in 1991-92 and Coventry were last in the Premier League in 2000-01.

The winners will collect a minimum of £102m in Premier League TV and merit payments next season even if they finish rock bottom. Subsequent parachute payments would be worth a further £102m. 

The promoted club will also see a substantial uplift in deals such as shirt and sleeve sponsors, a range of new commercial partners, match day and corporate ticket sales and perimeter ad revenue. 

The revenue bump on top of the Premier League cash is expected to total between £220m and £240m.