Thierry's in demand! TV rivals in chase for pundit Henry after Sky Sports debut



Arsenal’s record goalscorer Thierry Henry has become the most wanted TV football pundit, being chased by the BBC, Sky and BT Sport.



Henry, whose playing contract with New York Red Bulls runs until the end of the 2014 Major League Soccer season, made an immediate impact on Sky’s midweek Champions League coverage. Sky and their arch rivals BT are both known to be keen on signing him up on a regular basis.



But the BBC are in pole position to build a lasting relationship with the charismatic Henry — also famous for his ‘va va voom’ Renault Clio car commercials.



VIDEO Scroll down to watch Thierry Henry scoring a wonder goal for Red Bulls



Wanted: Thierry Henry is in no hurry to commit following his impressive showing on Sky in December

Va Va Voom: Henry celebrates a goal at the Emirates during his loan spell in 2012

Henry will be in the studio for Saturday night’s Match of the Day highlights show and has already agreed, in a major coup for the Beeb, to work as a football analyst in Brazil at the World Cup during the MLS mid-season break.



And although ITV look, on paper, to have a more exciting selection of World Cup matches, the new BBC pundit partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Henry is more attractive than the ITV line-up.



Henry’s advisers say it is too early to say whether he will commit to full-time punditry when his playing career finishes.

Brazil bound: Rio Ferdinand will be a pundit for the BBC's coverage of the 2014 World Cup Finals

The unfortunate early publication deadline for the first issue of football conference business Soccerex’s magazine meant, in his welcome article, CEO Duncan Revie praised a ‘fantastic stay in the spiritual home of football’ during the Soccerex convention in Brazil at Rio’s iconic Maracana Stadium.



No go: Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie did not go to Rio in the end as his company's convention was cancelled

However the summit, scheduled for the start of December, was cancelled last month after the Rio government withdrew funding on the back of civil unrest around the World Cup spend. Soccerex are taking legal action for an optimistic £5million damages.

The latest Gillingham accounts for the year ending May 2013 reveal that owner Paul Scally paid himself £240,000 for ‘consultancy services’. Scally was behind moves, at the last Football League summer meeting, to oust chairman Greg Clarke, who pre-empted the coup by downsizing his role from executive to independent chairman.

It should concern organisers of Sports Personality of the Year, the BBC flagship programme that should trumpet all that is best in British sport, that Sheffield’s Nick Matthew — three-time world champion and world No 1 squash player — is swerving his invitation to Sunday’s show because of the lack of profile his sport receives on the night.

Recognised: Nick Matthew receives the Sports Journalists' Association Committee Award from Sportsmail's Janine Self

Agnew diary gaffes

The BBC’s outstanding broadcaster Jonathan Agnew is very touchy about any criticism around his wife Emma promoting ‘brand Agnew’ in her online daily diary from the Ashes tour.



However, Mrs A’s revelation that England coach Andy Flower granted her husband an interview ahead of a scheduled press conference because ‘he must have heard I was somewhat prone to missing flights’ didn’t sit particularly well with Agnew’s important role as the licence-fee funded BBC cricket correspondent.



Nor did publicising that the diva Agnews had moved hotel rooms twice on arrival in Perth because they didn’t have a river view or a bath.

Daily diary: The wife of BBC commentator Jonathan Agnew (right) is posting regular online columns

Greg Dyke was due to appear at yesterday’s Sports Journalists’ Association awards lunch at the Tower of London in his first outing at a sporting event since his cut-throat gesture concerning England’s chances after the World Cup draw. But the FA chairman did not show up, having withdrawn on Wednesday for personal reasons.

Gesture: Greg Dyke (right) moves his finger across his throat after learning who England will face in Brazil

England Rugby 2015, who have been fighting a losing battle for Olympic-style legislation to prevent touts making a killing at the Rugby World Cup, discovered yesterday, when Labour voices raised concerns in Parliament, that there is no chance of Government intervention.



Labour shadow Clive Efford writing to Minister for Sport Helen Grant demanding regulation will have no effect, and the big fear now is that when tickets go on sale, touts will hoover them up, as they did for the Monty Python reunions.

