Maria Miller writes to BBC to 'express concern' over John Inverdale's Marion Bartoli comments during Wimbledon The Culture Secretary Maria Miller has put pressure on the BBC to take further action against the sports commentator John Inverdale over his sexist comments about the Wimbledon tennis champion Marion Bartoli. Mrs Miller has written to the Director-General of the BBC, Tony Hall, requesting updates on "further action that is likely to be taken" over the comments, which provoked more than 700 complaints to the broadcaster. During coverage of the women's final, Mr Inverdale suggested that the French player's "dogged, determined" style of play was related to her appearance. He told viewers: "I just wonder if her dad did say to her when she was 12, 13, 14 maybe: "Listen, you are never going to be, you know, a looker. You are never going to be a [Maria] Sharapova, you're never going to be 5 feet 11, you're never going to be somebody with long legs, so you have to compensate for that. Mrs Miller began her letter by saying she was "writing to express my concern over the comments." She said: "It is..a matter of some concern to me that any comment on the looks and stature of a female athlete could be made in the context of one of the highlights of the UK's, and indeed the world's, sporting calendar." The letter, which reminded the BBC of its obligations to female licence fee payers, was strategically leaked to the Daily Mail. Although Mrs Miller accepted that Mr Inverdale had apologised on air and in a letter to Ms Bartoli, she made clear that she did not consider that the matter was at a close. She did not explicitly call for Mr Inverdale to be sacked or disciplined but suggested that the BBC should take "positive steps" to ensure commentary on "female athletes, and women's sport generally, are as positive and inclusive as possible." Previously, James Harding, the new BBC head of news, had suggested that Mr Inverdale should take ownership of comments, which were "wrong." He said: "I think he said the wrong thing ... You have got to own your mistakes and apologise for them. The intervention comes at a particularly embarrassing time for the BBC because Lord Hall this week took the opportunity to announce his determination to address a gender imbalance in the broadcaster's on and off-screen staff. Speaking at the launch of the BBC annual report on Tuesday he said that "improving the gender balance in our programming has been a priority for me since I returned to the BBC," taking up his new role in April. Lord Hall simultaneously announced the appointment of Mishal Husain to the presenting line-up of the Radio 4 Today programme and commented: "I'm particularly pleased that with her appointment there will be another female voice on the programme which I think is really important."