Bates socks it to the Welsh over Wembley

Inside Lines

Ken Bates has probably caused the biggest stirring of Welsh ire since Anne Robinson by describing Cardiff's Millennium Stadium as "crap". The Chelsea chairman, who many thought was Wembley's weakest link when he was in charge of the project, was speaking on BBC TV's Football Focus yesterday, lavishly praising the FA's new baby, as he would. "It will be the most magnificent stadium in the world. The Millennium Stadium is crap by comparison, with its hundred-yard queues for toilets. Wait until Wembley is open, you won't have seen anything like it. It will knock the socks off anything else in the world." Bates, who was ousted from his position as chairman of Wembley National Stadium Ltd in February last year following criticism of his grandiose plans which included a Chelsea Village-style emporium incorporating a hotel and office blocks, blamed the Government for the delay in rebuilding the stadium. "It would have been half built by now if it had not been for Government, ministerial and Civil Service interference. I am delighted with the outcome since it was my idea originally that we should take over the stadium for the benefit of football." As someone who was belligerently opposed to the idea of holding either major athletics meetings or ultimately the Olympic Games at Wembley, no doubt Captain Birdseye will be equally delighted to learn that neither are likely to happen once the stadium is revamped. Despite the on-paper provision for a temporary track to be installed, athletics sources suggest they will have no use for it and the British Olympic Association say any future Games could not be held there.

Government move a smart one for Alec

Hard on the heels of football winning the battle to get the Wembley it wants comes news of a high-flying appointment that will also delight followers of the omnipotent round-ball game, though less so those in other sports. The hiring of Alec McGivan as the Government's new £85,000-a-year sports guru – official title Director of Sport at Tessa Jowell's DCMS – has been received less than rapturously by those outside the football industry. "Football seems to dominate their entire thinking about sport," said one. Choosing McGivan over the likes of the CCPR's all-rounder Margaret Talbot by a selection panel which included ex-footballer Garth Crooks seems to confirm this. It was McGivan, 49, who masterminded (or not, depending on how you look at it) England's abortive bid for the 2006 World Cup. He also worked for the FA during Euro 96. His other sporting interests, if any, are undeclared but former colleagues say he is a good organiser though lacking in charisma, which should fit in with his new Civil Service role. McGivan was also involved in the formation of the SDP and was at Oxford with Blair and Mandelson.

Last exit from Brooking, but who follows?

While the Government have moved with uncharacteristic swiftness to install Alec McGivan as Whitehall's new sports director, there is still no sign of a replacement for Trevor Brooking, who steps down after his three-year tenure as chairman of Sport England in a fortnight. Odd that. Brooking's final act has been to help sign off the Wembley deal, a subject which caused him much woe, but though luminaries from Sir Richard Branson to Lord MacLaurin have been mooted, no one is lined up to take over. Lottery panel chair Brigid Simmons, the sports businesswoman unfairly lambasted over Wembley by MP Gerald Kaufman, may hold the fort while major restructuring of the quango takes place.

The flags are still flying over Albert Square, and there is a spring in the step of every Mancuniuan. The Commonwealth Games have been and gone but two months later the joyous memories linger. Moreover, a report commissioned into the event that put British sports back on its feet will indicate that that not only was it a fillip for the city and the country, but the Government, too.

"All the indications are that having the Games here was a remarkable success, economically, socially and politically," says Manchester City Council's chief executive Howard Bernstein. "Everyone has benefited." Not least Manchester City FC, of course. Manchester's bulldozers have beaten Wembley's to it. They have already excavated the beautiful Games stadium to a depth of eight metres ready for a level playing field for the footy boys next season. "It will be delivered on time," promises Bernstein. Bit of an irony here. Manchester has ripped up the track all the athletes wanted to keep while Wembley plans to install one nobody now seems to want.

A tale of two Hattons. Boxer Ricky, 23, in action in hometown Manchester last night, has signed a new six-figure deal with promoter Frank Warren, making him one of Britain's best-paid fighters.

Winter sportsman Mark, 27, and no relation (except a poor one) has just been awarded a bursary by the IOC that will at least keep him off the breadline and on the luge track as Britain's best-ever prospect. Compared to Ricky's riches, it's a pittance but Mark is duly grateful as he is deep in the red after representing Britain in Salt Lake City. His plight, and that of other Olympians, is highlighted in a BOA Athletes Commision report which reveals the average debt of the Winter Games team is £6,500.

insidelines@independent.co.uk

Exit Lines

As for naming your kid Romeo, the guy must have a f***ing screw loose. Boxing champion Joe Calzaghe on why he does not fancy imitating the lifestyle of David Beckham... If the bombs start falling I wouldn't want to be at the Ryder Cup. US team member Scott Verplank looks for a bunker at The Belfry in the event of an invasion of Iraq... I don't think people should kiss my ass just because I am a footballer. Tottenham Hotspur's American goalkeeper, Kasey Keller, reveals an unusually refreshing approach to fame.