LONDON — English Premier League clubs agreed to give departing executive chairman Richard Scudamore 5 million pounds ($6 million) on Thursday over three years despite a public backlash.
The Football Supporters’ Federation urged clubs not to give Scudamore the money after news of the planned farewell payment leaked.
But the league justified the payout as necessary to prevent Scudamore taking his knowledge to a rival competition after 19 years running the world’s richest league.
"You are almost looking for trouble," West Ham co-owner David Gold said outside a meeting of clubs. "This is all very appropriate. We are all very pleased. The clubs all support the whole action."
[snippet id=4152687]
The payment was agreed to by the league’s audit and remuneration committee and endorsed by the 20 teams at the meeting.
"It was vital that a comprehensive set of non-compete clauses were extended, to ensure the best possible protection for the future of the Premier League," the league said in a statement. "It was agreed that it is crucial for the league’s ongoing success that Richard’s unique knowledge and experience remain available in an advisory capacity.
"The payments are in recognition of the outstanding work Richard has carried out over the last 19 years."
Scudamore was chief executive from 1999 to 2014 when he was promoted to executive chairman.
The new structure will see the league have a separate CEO and non-executive chairman again.
Susanna Dinnage will leave her role as global president of Discovery’s Animal Planet brand next year to become the league’s new chief executive. Claudia Arney, a non-executive director of the league, will be interim chairman during the appointment process.
Also, clubs agreed to introduce video assistant referees from next season pending approval from soccer’s lawmakers.
The summer transfer window will also close again before the start of the season in August 2019 after some clubs failed in a bid to revert to the system where deals could still be done until the end of August.
[relatedlinks]
