Premier League chaos as longest-serving independent director allegedly quits

Premier League chaos as longest-serving independent director allegedly quits

The English Premier League faces more problems, following the resignation today, Sunday, December 26, of its longest-serving independent director. According to Sky News, Kevin Beeston, will step down in the very near future, and has already informed the Board. An official announcement is expected in the next few weeks.

Mr Beeston joined the board of the EPL back in 2015, but has apparently become disenchanted with his role, after the way that former chairman, Gary Hoffman, had been treated. Several clubs had called for Hoffman to resign over the way that the takeover at Newcastle United by a Saudi-led consortium was handled.

Hoffman eventually resigned last month, and now, Mr Beeston looks set to follow him out. He was only reappointed back in September, when he was given a third three-year term as an independent director of the English Premier League.

Mr Beeston currently sits on the board of water suppliers, Severn Trent, and has previously been chairman of several notable companies in the FTSE-100. His undoubted business experience, and skills, will surely be a huge loss to English football’s boardroom.

With the surging rise of positive cases among football players, causing many games to be cancelled, the EPL really has its work cut off. On top of that, just last week, a review into the governance of English football, by the former sports minister, Tracey Crouch, has created another potential headache.

A proposition by Ms Crouch to create an independent regulator for football in England was met with a poor response by the EPL. It was reportedly met with a much worse reaction by many of the clubs.

If Mr Beeston is to depart, then it leaves just three members of the board. Richard Masters is the current chief executive, along with Mai Fyfield, and Dharmash Mistry, two more independent non-executives who were recently appointed. One of their next tasks will be to find a chairman to replace Gary Hoffman.

___________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading, and don’t forget to check The Euro Weekly News for all your up-to-date local and international news stories, and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.