Incoming Premier League CEO Pemsel resigns after private life ‘media disclosures’

David Pemsel has resigned as chief executive of the Premier League, two months before he was due to take up the role.

The 51-year-old has stood down after allegations appeared in the Sun earlier this week about his private life. The Premier League will now resume its hunt for a new CEO and is faced with finding a third appointee to replace the long-serving Richard Scudamore, who stepped down in November 2018.

The Premier League said in a statement on Friday: “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.

"Richard Masters will continue as interim chief executive. No further comment will be made at this stage."

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Pemsel was named in the role just last month, when the Premier League announced his arrival from Guardian Media Group (GMG).

His appointment came after broadcasting executive Susanna Dinnage had accepted the job at the end of last year, only to change her mind and decide to stay at the Discovery media group. Tim Davie, the chief executive of BBC Studios, was also reported to have turned down the position.

On Friday, GMG announced that Anna Bateson would be replacing Pemsel as interim CEO. Bateson, who had previously been in charge of reader revenues at the company, joined the Guardian in 2016.

The GMG chair, Neil Berkett, said: “Our recruitment process for a permanent chief executive continues, and the nominations committee of the board is pleased with our progress so far. We hope to make an announcement early in the new year.

“As we announced in October, David Pemsel has resigned as chief executive of GMG. We would like to express our gratitude to David for his leadership during an extremely important period for the organisation.”

The search for a new Premier League chief has been led by the Chelsea chairman, Bruce Buck, with headhunters Russell Reynolds Associates brought on board after Dinnage’s U-turn. It was Russell Reynolds who recommended Pemsel after he had helped achieve a financial turnaround at Guardian News & Media, the publisher of the Guardian.

At the time of his appointment, Buck praised Pemsel’s “straightforward style and personal integrity”.

“At the Guardian he has shown strong leadership through a period of change and transformation. Returning the group to profit is an impressive achievement and has demonstrated that he can develop and execute a transformational plan in an ever-changing business landscape,” Buck said.

The process will now have to begin again, with the Premier League facing either having to reconsider candidates they have previously rejected or casting the net even wider in the search for the right person. There had already been disquiet over the appointment process among the league’s 20 clubs and several are believed to have aired their disquiet after the allegations regarding Pemsel became public.

Masters, who previously worked as the Premier League’s director of sales and marketing for 13 years, will continue to hold the fort for now.

Under Scudamore, the Premier League was renowned for its slick efficiency, as it rose to become one of the richest sporting competitions in the world. The broadcasting revenues shared by its 20 clubs amount to £9.2 billion (€10.8 billion) over the next three seasons.

Scudamore’s successor is likely to face less certain times, however, with TV revenues in the UK having already dropped and global rights expected to follow over time. The challenge of illegal internet streaming of matches, plus increased competition from rivals and Britain’s scheduled departure from the EU all make the future success of the competition more complicated. – Guardian