(ATR) Federation sources tell Around the Rings they are surprised and shocked at Debbie Jevans' resignation as chief executive of England's 2015 organizing committee.
Jevans, the former London 2012 sports director, quit on Friday after two and a half years in the job, citing "personal reasons."
Several British media reports suggested she had a falling out with English Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie due to her frustration at the RFU’s interference in England 2015’s tournament preparations.
ATR understands that there was no major feud but Jevans felt her job was being compromised by the involvement of RFU officials who wanted to make their mark on preparations.
The Daily Mail reported that she came to blows with RFU leaders because she didn’t fully accommodate the views of the nation’s rugby clubs or the game’s commercial partners. Ritchie was also said to be concerned about the huge numbers of staff on the England 2015 payroll.
Some rugby clubs voiced frustrations with England 2015’s failure to properly consult them about the sites of fan zones around the country and the trophy tour, according to the Daily Telegraph. The newspaper said the replacement of staff with rugby expertise with those from the London Olympics had sown the seeds of discontent early on in World Cup preparations, soon after Jevans came aboard in autumn 2012.
Two summer Olympic federation sources told ATR they were genuinely shocked by Jevans departure from the World Cup set-up.
One who saw her last week said there was no suggestion she was on the verge of quitting, saying it was "a big surprise."
"It was a surprise to everyone. It came a bit out of the blue," said another who knows her well from Jevans’ days in the tennis business.
Jevans is widely credited with doing a fine job at the helm of England 2015 and leaves the organization in good shape with six months until the World Cup kicks off.
Among her toughest assignments was negotiating deals to use football stadiums for the Rugby World Cup, allowing more tickets to go on sale. The World Cup is on track to sell the 2.2 million tickets with the RFU raking in significant profits.
Regarded as one of the world’s best sports event adminstrators, ATR understands that Jevans was happy to resign to avoid any major conflict with what one source dubbed an "old boys' network" in the knowledge that she was leaving behind a strong team capable of delivering a spectacular World Cup.
Britain’s former sports minister Tessa Jowell, who worked closely with Jevans on the London 2012 bid and during Games preparations, was aghast at her resignation.
"Amazing legend that is Debbie Jevans, form orderly queue sports bodies to snap her up," she tweeted on Monday.
A source close to Jevans told ATR that the former British tennis player had made some big and difficult decisions and was prepared to step aside to allow others to take the glory for the World Cup.
"Knowing Debbie as I do, she would have made the right decision based on what’s best for her team and what’s best for the tournament. I would expect there are sports bodies around the world queuing up to bring her on board," they said.
World Rugby said Jevans’ departure would have no negative impact on tournament preparations.In its statement, the federation noted that Jevans "leaves with a highly experienced event delivery executive team in place with plans for the tournament in excellent shape."
"All aspects of tournament preparations are on or ahead of schedule with over 1.9 million tickets sold to date," World Rugby said.
World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset said she had implemented "everything we need for an exceptional Rugby World Cup."
"We are confident that Rugby World Cup 2015 will be the biggest and best to date," he added.
Stephen Brown, an England 2015 board member, stepsup to replace her in the role of managing director, a move announced onFriday.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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