BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Tony Livesey was absent from his usual late-night slot as an investigation from Panorama and The Times cast light over his previous career as editor-in-chief of Sport Newspapers.
Press Gazette understands that Livesey, who presents the 10pm to 1am show Monday to Thursday on 5 Live, was not scheduled to be on air last night. Stand-in host Qasa Alom started last night’s show with an in-depth report looking into the allegations against Sullivan.
Livesey is scheduled to return to present on 5 Live at 10.30pm tomorrow night (Wednesday).
A two-year joint investigation by The Times and BBC Panorama has revealed how former Daily/Sunday Sport owner David Sullivan promised to advance the careers of young women if they had sex with him.
One woman said she was taken to the offices of the Sport newspaper titles in Manchester and was introduced to the paper’s owner by then editor Livesey. The woman then described an unwanted sexual encounter with Sullivan which took place during a meeting with Sullivan which she said was set up by Livesey.
Livesey told The Times he “had “no recollection” of introducing her to Sullivan, that it was “not part” of his role to introduce women to Sullivan and that he had “practically zero” contact with anyone appearing in the paper.
Livesey left his job as editor in chief of the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport in 2006 to focus on his broadcasting career at the BBC. He had been at the titles for 18 years.
Livesey began as a sports reporter at the Sunday Sport in 1987 under former West Ham and England footballer Bobby Moore, who was then sports editor. Livesey went on to take over as sports editor, before stepping up to deputy editor, then editor.
He later switched to the Daily Sport, becoming editor, then managing editor of the group and finally editor-in-chief of both the daily and Sunday titles.
Livesey said of the Sport at the time he stepped down: “It’s a much maligned newspaper in places, but those in the business know that no national newspaper could make a profit from day one to now without being excellent in its field. The Independent launched in the same year as us and it’s made a loss every year, as far as I’m aware. We’ve made a profit every year.
“When the big stories come along, we do them seriously, but we just try and give people a laugh, and that’s all I’ve done for 18 years.”
The Guardian noted yesterday how between 1986 and 2004 (when there was a change in the law) Sport newspapers would publish stories counting down until the 16th birthday of particular girls when it would then publish topless pictures of them.
In his 1998 book Livesey wrote that together he and David Sullivan had come up with the idea for the “countdown to 16 feature”, the BBC reports. Livesey has since said the “countdown to 16” feature was not his idea and that “large parts of his book were fictionalised to make to appear he was at the centre of all stories even when he wasn’t”.
The Daily Sport’s last ABC gave it a Monday to Friday sale of 75,592 in 2009.
The Sunday Sport sold more than 200,000 copies per week at the turn of the millennium but sales had fallen to 70,000 by the end of 2009. The titles closed in 2011 but later relaunched and Sullivan continues to publish Sunday Sport.
The sport titles mixed popular news with pictures of naked women and were crammed with advertising for sex lines, massage parlours and other marketing relating to the sex industry.
News coverage in the Sport titles varied from the sensational to the fictional with famous headlines including: “Aliens turned our son into a fishfinger”, “World War Two bomber found on moon” and “Bus buried at South Pole”.
David Sullivan resigned as chairman of West Ham on Saturday over “serious historical allegations” about his conduct saying: “I categorically deny these claims”.
The Times and BBC could face paying millions in legal costs and damages if they are sued by the billionaire businessman and lose. In UK law the onus would be on The Times and BBC to either prove the allegations were true, or else prove the investigation was responsible journalism on a matter of public interest.
In 2025, The Guardian successfully defended its investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against the actor Noel Clarke after he sued them at the High Court.
In April this year, banker Crispin Odey dropped his £79m libel case against the Financial Times three years after the title published allegations he had sexually assaulted multiple women.
Lawyers for the 67-year-old said he had been “forced to accept” that the publication was “likely to succeed in establishing” its public interest defence.
The FT said 15 women had said they were willing to go to court to testify on its behalf, including three women whose allegations had not previously been reported.
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