The controversial review, headed by David Davies, the former executive director of the Football Association, and which has taken almost a year to complete, also recommended a return to the list for the Ashes cricket series, all of England's home and away qualification matches for the football World Cup and European Championships as well as The Open golf championship, the Wimbledon tennis tournament and the Rugby World Cup.

 

The Winter Olympics were offered up for delisting, along the Epsom Derby horse race and the Rugby League Challenge Cup final.

 

Andy Hunt, the chief executive of the British Olympic Association (BOA), reacted with anger at the news.

 

He said: "We are extremely surprised and disappointed.

 

"We believe it is imperative that Winter Olympic sportsmen and women are given the same opportunity as their summer sport counterparts to allow the country to unite in the excitement generated by their Olympic participation.

 

"We need look no further than the success of Team GB's women curlers in the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games, which attracted a late night audience of approximately six million free-to-air television viewers in the UK.

 

"We strongly feel that the Olympic Winter Games meet the key criteria outlined in the review."

 

But it does not mean that the Winter Olympics is about to disappear off free-to-air television onto a satellite channel, even if the Government does decide to adopt the recommendations in the report.

 

The IOC's policy is enshrined in its Olympic Charter (section 49, paragraph 1), which states: "The IOC takes all necessary steps in order to ensure the fullest coverage by the different media and the widest possible audience in the world for the Olympic Games."

 

What it does mean is that any broadcaster which acquires the rights in Britain has a contractual obligation to screen large sections of the Games live and on a free-to-air platform.

In the case of the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014, broadcasters will have to guarantee a minimum of 100 hours free, live coverage from Russia.

 

The BBC already has the UK rights to Vancouver 2010 but, following the failure of the European Broadcast Union (EBU) bid, the Corporation will now have to negotiate directly with the IOC if it wants to remain the official Olympic broadcaster in Britain.

 

If a broadcaster such as Sky did acquire the rights for Sochi 2014, as part of a deal that would also include Rio 2016, they would no choice but to make the required minimum number of hours available on its own free-to-air platform or else strike an agreement with a free-to-air partner, such as BBC or ITV.

 

In the short-term, the Winter Olympics should be safe because the IOC are likely to ensure that any deal they do for Rio 2016 will include a minimum amount of coverage for Sochi 2014.

 

Nevertheless, Hunt is set to launch a fight to ensure that the Winter Olympics remain on the list of "crown jewels".

 

He said: "We certainly believe that the Winter Olympics are a pre-eminent international sport event, involving the national team and, as the curlers proved in 2002, capable of commanding a large television audience which is not simply of significance to those who ordinarily follow the sport concerned."

 

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]

 

 

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