David Pemsel Resigns As Premier League CEO Before Starting

David Pemsel has resigned from the role of Premier League chief executive he was set to start in early 2020, following allegations of improper messages sent to a female former colleague.

Premier League senior staff had reportedly held an emergency meeting on November 28 to discuss how to handle the allegations made by UK daily newspaper, The Sun.

The former Guardian chief executive allegedly sent dozens of inappropriate text messages to the female journalist over WhatsApp.

In a statement, the Premier League said the meeting came after reports from several UK news outlets claimed the senior staff at a number of Premier League clubs were putting pressure on the organisation to sack Pemsel.

“Following media disclosures earlier this week and discussions with David Pemsel, the Premier League has today accepted David’s resignation and he will no longer be joining as chief executive,” the statement read.

The Premier League also announced Richard Masters will stay on as the interim CEO as they continue their drawn-out search that has lasted almost 18 months so far.

During the 18-month search, which has been led by Chelsea chairman, Bruce Buck, the position was reportedly turned down by the chief executive of BBC Studios, Tim Davie, and was accepted by broadcast executive Susanna Dinnage, who later decided to stay at the Discovery media group.

Richard Masters, who has worked as the Premier League’s director of sales and marketing for 13 years, will continue as the interim CEO throughout the duration of the search, but there has been no indication on whether Masters is currently being considered to take over the role officially.