Sports Personality of the Year 2017 voting & judging: Terms & conditions

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year will be announced during a live show at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on Sunday, 17 December 2017.

The nominations processes, criteria and voting details (where applicable) for each award are outlined below.

MAIN AWARD

This award goes to the sportsperson whose actions have most captured the UK public's imagination during 2017.

An expert panel (hereafter 'the Panel') was convened in November 2017 to decide the shortlist of sportspeople for the main BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year production team provided the Panel with an extensive list of the top sportspeople from 2017, including information on their achievements. The Panel were free to consider other potential candidates.

The Panel comprised 12 members this year, with representatives from BBC Sport, BBC Radio 5 live, the UK broadcasting industry, UK-wide newspapers and UK sports bodies (in alphabetical order): Maggie Alphonsi, Philip Bernie, Darren Campbell, Danny Crates, Carl Doran, Katherine Grainger, Dominic Hart, Colin Murray, Eleanor Oldroyd, Alyson Rudd, Barbara Slater and Laura Williamson.

The Panel selected a short list of sportspeople for the main award on the basis of the following criteria:

  • Reflects UK sporting achievements on the national and/or international stage;

  • Represents the breadth and depth of UK sports; and

  • Takes into account 'impact' of the person's sporting achievement beyond the sport in question.

Sportspeople are eligible to be nominated for the main BBC Sports Personality of the Year award if they are UK citizens or all of the following criteria apply:

  • they play a significant amount of their sport in the UK; and

  • their core achievements that year were achieved in the UK, and not with a non-UK based team (in which case they would more likely qualify for the Overseas award); and

  • they are residents in the UK.

Non-playing coaches or management are not eligible.

The Panel produce a shortlist based on reaching a consensus view. If a consensus view cannot be reached on all or some of the candidates, then the Panel are asked to vote for the remaining candidates. In the event of a tied vote, the chairperson's decision (Director, BBC Sport) is binding.

The shortlist of contenders is expected to be announced during 'The One Show' on Monday, 27 November 2017 and will also appear on the BBC Sport website.

The Panel also:

  • Determine the winner for the Team of the Year award.

  • Determine the winner for the Coach of the Year award.

  • Determine the shortlist for the Overseas Sports Personality of the Year award.

  • Undertake a back-up vote for the main award (in the unlikely event of problems with the public vote on the night of the show).

The Panel have the right to amend elements of the awards such as the criteria or numbers shortlisted, should a consensus view be reached - provided such changes remain within the spirit of the award.

The public will vote to decide the winner from the shortlist of contenders during the live BBC Sports Personality of the Year show on Sunday, 17 December 2017. This will be overseen by an independent adjudicator.

In the unlikely event of:

  • A tie in the public vote amongst the two contenders obtaining the highest number of votes, the award will be shared amongst those two. There will be no award in the second place category and the third place category award will go to the contender scoring highest after the two in the tie.

  • A tie in the public vote amongst the three contenders obtaining the highest number of votes, the award will be shared amongst the three and there will be no awards in the second and third place categories.

  • A tie in the public vote amongst two contenders obtaining the second highest number of votes, the second place award will be shared amongst those two and there will be no award in the third place category.

  • A tie in the public vote amongst two contenders obtaining the third highest number of votes, the third place award will be shared amongst those two.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

Voting for the main award will be from a shortlist of contenders presented during the live show on Sunday, 17 December 2017.

Voting will be available by phone or via the BBC website. The number to call for each contender will be revealed during the programme. There is no voting via email, Red Button or by text. The telephone numbers will be available through Red Button and via the BBC website.

Telephone Vote: Voters in the UK can choose either to call from their landline using the long (11-digit) number for the contender(s) of their choice or from their mobile phones using the shortcode (7-digit) number for the contender(s) of their choice. Please note that callers from the Channel Islands and Isle of Man should call from their landlines using the long (11-digit) number to avoid higher mobile charges, as the short (7-digit) numbers are not available in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for reasons outside of the BBC's control.

Calls to the long (11-digit) number from landlines and mobiles cost 15p plus your network's access charge. To vote from your mobile in the UK, please call the short (7-digit) number announced for your chosen contender(s).Calls from mobiles to the short (7-digit) number cost 15p per vote and should cost less than calling the long (11-digit) number from your mobile so please, if you can, dial the short (7-digit) number from your mobile. You cannot text and you cannot dial the short (7-digit) number from a landline. Please do not attempt to vote by calling a 7-digit short number from a landline.

Online Vote: Viewers who wish to vote online will need to sign in to a BBC account at https://www.bbc.com/signin. If you do not have a BBC account, you can register for one for free at https://www.bbc.com/register. If you have any trouble registering or signing in, you can visit the help pages at https://www.bbc.com/signin/help. Please check your broadband or mobile contract to check the cost of using data services.

Online votes will be limited to one vote per BBC account. It may appear as if you are able to vote more than once however only your first vote will have been counted.

The online vote will be open during the same period as the telephone lines. The results of the telephone vote and the online vote will be aggregated prior to any announcements.

If you are watching BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017 on BBC iPlayer, following through a website or any other time shift or catch-up or on demand service you should not vote since the lines will have closed.

Voting is only open to individuals as consumers from the UK, and not to any agencies, businesses and/or companies. Please note that BBC employees who are in any way connected to the vote, their close relatives or anyone directly connected in any way with the production of the programme or the provision of telephony services to the programme are not eligible to vote.

You must obtain the phone bill payer's permission before voting.

Opening and closing times will be specified on the programme.

Please be sure you carefully dial only the number of the contender(s) for which you wish to vote for.

Please do NOT call before the lines open, or after the lines have closed, as your vote will not be counted, but you may still be charged. The winner will be announced live on the programme.

The BBC reserves the right to disqualify votes if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that fraudulent, excessive or suspicious patterns of voting have occurred or if it considers there has been any attempt to rig the voting.

All voting will be overseen by an independent verification service.

The BBC reserves the right to cancel or suspend voting at any time. In the event of any such cancellation or suspension, a technical failure or any other malfunction with the vote, the BBC reserves the right to arrange for the winner to be decided by a contingency arrangement from the votes cast by the shortlisting panel (see above for details).

For the purpose of verifying any claim for refunds (where offered for telephone votes) or investigating possible online voting irregularities the BBC may use cookies, log IP addresses or analyse the information from your BBC account.

Users who vote online are subject to the BBC's standard Privacy and Cookies Policy (http://www.bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/privacy-policy/), and Terms of Use (http://bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/terms/terms-of-use).

The BBC will not publish this information or provide it to any third party without permission, except where required for enforcement of these terms. Please see the BBC's Privacy and Cookies Policy for more information at http://www.bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/privacy/

The BBC will use your personal data in accordance with our Privacy and Cookies Policy, which you can read on http://www.bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/privacy/privacy-policy, and our Terms of Use (which you can read about on http://www.bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/terms/).

For example, we may use your personal data for the purpose of running the vote (including processing refunds or investigating possible voting irregularities) and for the purpose of personalising our services where you have shown interest in a particular programme, including voting online (http://www.bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/account/how-is-the-bbc-personalised-to-me/).

The BBC, its sub-contractors, subsidiaries and/or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any telephone network or line, system, server, provider or otherwise which may result in any vote being lost or not properly registered or recorded.

The voting in this programme accords with the BBC's Code of Conduct for Competitions and Voting, details of which can be found here.

These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

OVERSEAS SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR AWARD

This award goes to the overseas sportsperson whose actions have most captured the UK public's imagination during 2017. The award is not open to those sportspeople who qualify for the main BBC Sports Personality of the Year award under its qualification criteria (see above).

The expert panel responsible for choosing the shortlist for the main BBC Sports Personality of the Year award put forward a list of contenders available for selection.

The public decide the winner from the shortlist of contenders prior to the main show with an online vote. This will be overseen by an independent adjudicator.

In the unlikely event of a tie in the online vote amongst the two contenders obtaining the highest number of votes, the award will be shared amongst those two.

The vote will open on Friday, 24 November 2017 at 12:00 GMT and close on Friday, 8 December 2017 at 12:00 GMT.

The winner will be announced via a press release on Friday, 15 December 2017, two days before the BBC One main awards show.

In order to vote, you must be a UK resident (including Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) and not be a BBC employee, employee of any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, close relative of any such employees or connected to the vote directly or through a close relative.

Votes can be made online by accessing http://www.bbc.co.uk/sportspersonality from 12.00 GMT on 24 November 2017 and must be received no later than 12.00 GMT on 8 December 2017. Any votes received outside the voting window will not count. You cannot vote by any other method.

Online voting requires you to log into the page with your BBC account at https://www.bbc.com/signin. If you do not have a BBC account, you can register for one for free at https://www.bbc.com/register. If you have any trouble registering or signing in, you can visit the help pages at https://www.bbc.com/signin/help. Please check your broadband or mobile contract to check the cost of using data services. You can only vote once per BBC account.

No correspondence relating to the vote will be entered into.

There will be no prize for anyone taking part in the vote.

Users who vote online are subject to the BBC Privacy and Cookies Policy and BBC online Terms of Use.

The BBC reserves the right to disqualify entries or suspend voting if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that fraudulent voting has occurred or if it considers there has been any attempt to rig the voting. The BBC has the right to substitute an alternative selection method at its absolute discretion.

For the purposes of investigating possible voting irregularities when voting on bbc.co.uk using BBC account the BBC may use cookies, log IP addresses or analyse the information from your BBC account. The BBC will not publish this information or provide it to anyone without permission, except where required for enforcement of these terms.

If, for any reason, the online voting system fails, the vote may be suspended or a contingency plan may be actioned.

The BBC reserves the right to change, cancel or suspend the vote at any time.

The BBC cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction, or any other problem with any online system, server, provider or otherwise which may result in any vote being lost or not properly registered and recorded.

This vote complies with the BBC's Code of Conduct for Competitions and Votes: BBC Code of Conduct for Voting

The BBC will use your personal data in accordance with our Privacy and Cookies Policy and our Terms of Use. For example, we may use your personal data for the purpose of running the vote (including processing refunds or investigating possible voting irregularities) and for the purpose of personalising our services where you have shown interest in a particular show, including voting online (http://www.bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/account/how-is-the-bbc-personalised-to-me/ ).

These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD

This award goes to the coach who has made the biggest impact on sport in the UK during 2017.

For the purpose of this award, the term 'coach' includes roles such as managers, coaches, trainers and performance directors.

The expert panel responsible for choosing the shortlist for the main BBC Sports Personality of the Year award decide the overall winner for the Coach of the Year award based on reaching a consensus view. If a consensus view cannot be reached, then the Panel are asked to vote. In the event of a tied vote, the chairperson's decision is binding.

The winner will be announced during the BBC Sports Personality of the Year programme on Sunday, 17 December 2017.

TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARD

This award goes to the team in a sporting discipline, individual sport or sporting event that has achieved the most notable performance during 2017.

The team must have significant UK interest or involvement.

The expert panel responsible for choosing the shortlist for the main BBC Sports Personality of the Year award decide the overall winner for the Team of the Year award based on reaching a consensus view. If a consensus view cannot be reached, then the Panel are asked to vote. In the event of a tied vote, the chairperson's decision is binding.

The winner will be announced during the BBC Sports Personality of the Year programme on Sunday, 17 December 2017.

YOUNG SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR

This award goes to the outstanding young sportsperson aged 17 or under on 1 January 2017, selected from nominations made to the BBC and by sports governing bodies via the Youth Sport Trust. Nominations closed on 16th November 2017.

Young sportspeople are eligible to win the award if they are citizens of the UK or all three of the following criteria apply:

  • they play a significant amount of their sport in the UK; and

  • their core achievements that year were achieved in the UK, and not with a national team (in which case they would more likely qualify for the Overseas Sports Personality award); and

  • they are residents in the UK.

BBC Sport's John Inverdale chairs a panel which includes three representatives of the Youth Sport Trust, former winner of the award Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Blue Peter presenter Radzi Chinyanganya, a Blue Peter Sport Badge 2017 winner, BBC Sport's Hugh Woozencroft, Helen Richardson-Walsh, Hannah Russell, and the Executive Editor of BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Carl Doran.

The panel meet to shortlist the contenders from the list of nominations collected by the Youth Sport Trust and the BBC. They select the winner by secret ballot and the final vote is independently verified.

The top three will be announced on Blue Peter and invited to the live event at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. The other shortlisted contenders will be notified out of courtesy that they have not made the final three.

The winner will be announced on the BBC Sports Personality of the Year programme on Sunday, 17 December 2017 and on the BBC Sport website.

The young judge selected by Blue Peter will be done so using the following criteria:

  • The applicant will have been successful in their application for a Blue Peter Sport Badge 2017 and the quality of the Sport Badge application may also be taken into consideration.

  • The quality of the answer to the question, "Why would you be a great judge for Young Sports Personality of the Year 2017?" will be assessed. The answer must demonstrate a passion for sport, show why they are good at making decisions and be all their own work. If there is any reasonable doubt about this, the application will not be considered.

  • In a phone interview the candidates will be assessed on their suitability for the role, confidence in a judging situation and ability to deal with the task and appearing on camera.

  • Being part of the panel that decides who wins Young Sports Personality of the Year 2017 is a responsible role, the young judge will need to be confident working with adults and making informed decisions.

HELEN ROLLASON AWARD

This is a special BBC award recognising outstanding achievement in the face of adversity. It is decided by senior management in BBC Sport.

The award will be presented on the BBC Sports Personality of the Year programme on Sunday, 17 December 2017.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

This award honours someone who has made a major impact on the world of sport during their lifetime. It is decided by senior management in BBC Sport.

The award will be presented on the BBC Sports Personality of the Year programme on Sunday, 17 December 2017.

BBC GET INSPIRED UNSUNG HERO AWARD

1. Any UK resident (including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) aged 16 or over on 1 January 2017 is eligible to be nominated, except previous winners of the BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero Awards, BBC employees or any person connected to the Awards and their close relatives. Nominees aged under 18 will require parental consent to be nominated. Proof of age, identity, eligibility and consent (where applicable) may be requested.

2. The nominee must:

  • either be an individual, or no more than two people, who are both involved in the same activity

  • help amateurs participate in a physical activity or sport (and that physical activity or sport must have a recognised governing body. Please see the list at: https://sportscotland.org.uk/media/2276/uk-recognised-ngbs-and-sport-list-april-2017.pdf

  • offer help that does not form part of their job or take place at their place of work

  • help voluntarily with no financial reward

  • not be affiliated with an organisation having religious ties or a charity

  • in the opinion of the person nominating be deserving of a BBC Award

  • not bring the BBC into disrepute (in the BBC's sole discretion)

  • have consented to be nominated (obtaining consent is the responsibility of the nominating party)

3. Nominations are made by post to:

BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero Awards 2017, BBC Sport, Floor 3, Quay House, Salford Quays M50 2QH

Or via bbc.co.uk/unsunghero where a downloadable form can be completed and emailed to unsunghero@bbc.co.uk

Or via bbc.co.uk/unsunghero with a link to the online webform.

Nominations were accepted from Wednesday, 6 September 2017 and had to be received no later than 23.59 GMT on Sunday, 22 October 2017.

4. Only one nomination is permitted per person and it should be on an official BBC form. Persons nominating should declare any professional or personal relationship with the person or people nominated.

5. The BBC appoint a representative in each of its 12 English Regions plus Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who each shortlist no more than 10 nominees for their regional voting panel. The shortlisting criteria will be:

  • The extent of the nominee's' contribution at the grassroots level of their sport or physical activity

  • The impact they have had on individuals and/or their local community

  • The personal sacrifices or commitment made.

Regional judging panels consisting of BBC staff and non-BBC members meet to select a BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero Award for their respective area from those shortlisted and based on the criteria above. The 15 regional winners become eligible for the overall BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero 2017 Award.

Persons nominated may be asked to disclose details of any, and all criminal and civil actions pending against them, or served against them plus any unspent convictions. Nominated persons asked for this information must keep the BBC informed of any changes to that disclosed up to the point the winner is announced. This information will be handled in the strictest confidence and, as with all personal information, in accordance with the BBC Privacy Policy.

Following standard industry practice the BBC may undertake background checks of the shortlisted finalists. Information discovered or that may have been disclosed by the entrants themselves will inform the decision as to the selection of the regional winners and overall winner.

A national judging panel meet to select the overall winner from the 15 regional winners based on the aforementioned criteria, any supporting documentation and a short BBC film about each of them. The panel typically consists of representatives from the BBC, leading sports figures and a previous BBC Unsung Hero winner dependent on availability. The judging process is overseen by an independent verifier.

The overall winner will be announced live on BBC One's Sports Personality of the Year 2017 programme, to be held in Liverpool on Sunday, 17 December and to which all regional winners and their guest are invited to attend.

The judges' decision as to the winner is final. No correspondence relating to the awards will be entered into.

The regional winners will each receive a regional BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero Award 2017 trophy and the national winner will receive the national BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero Award 2017 trophy. There are no cash alternatives and the award cannot be sold or transferred in any circumstances.

All winners must agree to take part in any post-award publicity if required.

The BBC reserves the right to:

  • vary the opening and closing times for making nominations and to vary the date of the announcement of the awards

  • disqualify any nominee who breaches the rules or has acted fraudulently in any way

  • cancel or vary the awards or any of the selection processes or criteria, at any stage, if in its opinion it is deemed necessary or if circumstances arise outside its control.

The BBC, its sub-contractors, subsidiaries and/or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem which may result in any nomination not being properly registered.

The information provided will be processed safely and securely and kept confidential by the BBC. The personal data provided will be shared within the BBC and with external third parties for the purposes of administering the award only. The third parties include external judges and Monterosa (hosting service). The personal data will not be processed by any third parties not connected with the award without prior permission. The names of entrants who are shortlisted, commended and winning persons may be disclosed to the public.

The BBC will retain all details to maintain an accurate record of the award, for the purposes of administering future awards and will destroy this information provided when it is no longer required. To amend any of the personal data submitted or withdraw personal data please email unsunghero@bbc.co.uk. Withdrawal of personal data during the award process will result in the nomination being removed. For more information about the BBC's privacy policy go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/privacy/privacy-policy.

Persons nominating and nominees will be deemed to have accepted these rules and agree to be bound by them.

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