David Sullivan Resigns as West Ham Co-Chairman, Denies Allegations After Safeguarding Ban on Women's and Youth Teams
The West Ham co-owner stepped down Saturday following a 2023 safeguarding investigation that restricted his access to the club's women's and youth sides. He remains the club's largest shareholder at age 77.
slate.comDavid Sullivan resigned as co-chair and director of West Ham United on Saturday after a safeguarding ban that has kept him from contact with the club's women's and youth teams since 2023. The Football Association opened an investigation that year after receiving allegations about Sullivan's conduct.
A safeguarding group that included West Ham, the FA and the local authority then barred him from access to the youth and women's teams and from attending their matches.
The restrictions were never made public. Sullivan continued to appear in the directors' box for men's team matches at the London Stadium. Sullivan, 77, had held the joint chairman position for 16 years.
He remains the club's largest shareholder after the death of his business partner David Gold in January 2023. Eight women, including one who participated in the BBC and Times investigation, have made disclosures to police about Sullivan's conduct. None of the cases have resulted in charges.
The Metropolitan Police said it takes such allegations extremely seriously and will assess any information or evidence provided. The Independent Football Regulator contacted West Ham over the extremely serious allegations and said it is seeking urgent information from Sullivan about his suitability for the role.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's spokesperson described the women's accounts as harrowing.
Labour MP Alex Davies-Jones said she was horrified but sadly not surprised and called for a review of how police, the FA and West Ham handled the disclosures. West Ham and the FA both stated they have robust safeguarding measures but cannot comment on individual cases. In his resignation statement, Sullivan said he denies allegations of wrongdoing and described the investigation as unfair.
He added that after a lifetime spent building businesses in the adult industry in which he met thousands of women, it is sadly inevitable that a small number of improper conduct claims are being made against him. The allegations come from women who were in their late teens or early twenties and were young models seeking work at Sullivan's Daily and Sunday Sport newspapers.
They span decades when Sullivan made a fortune from pornography, newspapers and football.
