World Bulletin / News Desk

English businessman and media expert Martin Sorrell has described Istanbul’s failed bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics as a ‘tragedy’, and had pointed the finger of blame on the BBC.

Speaking at the Football Leaders conference in London, Sorrell said ‘Istanbul’s loss of the Olympic games to Tokyo is the fault of the BBC.’ He claimed that BBC’s exaggeration of the Gezi Park riots had influenced judges at July’s Olympic Committee meeting in Argentina to vote for Tokyo instead.

He also claimed that CNN also over-egged the riots, costing Istanbul the Olympics.

Moreover, he said a documentary aired by the BBC on Panorama had literally eliminated England from the race to host the 2018 World Cup.