Last week, Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore found himself in hot water after a former assistant leaked select emails to the press. Those emails, sent from Scudamore’s work address, included sexist and inappropriate content.
The league’s chief executive issued an apology. He stated that the emails were “inappropriate,” but placed the majority of the blame on the assistant, saying, ” “These were private emails exchanged between colleagues and friends of many years. They were received from and sent to my private and confidential email address, which a temporary employee who was with the organisation for only a matter of weeks should not have accessed and was under no instruction to do so.”
Now Edward Lord, a member of the Football Association’s Inclusion Advisory Board who initially called for Scudamore to be charged over the emails, is claiming that the apology was insincere. It seems that, prior to issuing the apology, Scudamore wrote to the 20 Premier League clubs, asking their chief executives to “be the judge” as to whether the content of the emails was sexist and inappropriate.
According to Lord, the letter undermines Scudmore’s apology.“If it is that Richard Scudamore didn’t believe that what he had written was wrong less than a week ago, I think that it is highly unlikely that he has come to that conclusion in any reality since.” Lord continued, “On that basis it appears to me that his position is now looking untenable.”
FA Chairman Greg Dyke previously stated that, although the emails were “totally inappropriate,” the FA would not take action as the comments were not made in a public forum. However, the Premier League will meet on Monday to determine whether Scudamore will be charged. The IAB will then meet on Tuesday to discuss the issue and the league’s response.
