News

Times signs Press Association’s chief sports reporter

Martyn Ziegler, who has worked at the Press Association for nearly 20 years and as the agency’s chief sports reporter since 2000, has been recruited by The Times to work in a similar role, also covering sports politics and investigations.

New challenges: Martyn Ziegler
New challenges: Martyn Ziegler

Yorkshire-based Ziegler will hit the ground running, as his first assignment for The Times on the day after he starts later this month will be in Zurich for the FIFA presidential elections.

The Times is thought to have been the first British national newspaper to have appointed a sports news reporter, nearly 30 years ago. But that role has been largely vacant since Ashling O’Connor, previous The Times’s Olympics correspondent, was made redundant in 2013.

Ziegler has been a regular contender for honours at the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards for his work at PA, and is widely admired for digging out major stories, especially in football and the Olympics.

“It is an absolute privilege to be joining such an outstanding sports team at The Times,” he told sportsjournalists.co.uk. “We have just had the most incredible year for sports news, it shows no sign of slowing down and I can’t wait to get my teeth into some stories.

“I’ve had close to 20 enjoyable years at PA and have huge respect for everyone there. I’ve admired The Times from afar for many years, now I have the opportunity to report for the paper that I relish reading every day.”

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