{"id":7173,"date":"2026-06-09T15:35:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T15:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/uk-government-concerned-by-abuse-claims-against-west-ham-co-owner\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T15:35:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T15:35:43","slug":"uk-government-concerned-by-abuse-claims-against-west-ham-co-owner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/uk-government-concerned-by-abuse-claims-against-west-ham-co-owner\/","title":{"rendered":"UK government \u2018concerned\u2019 by abuse claims against West Ham co-owner"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>David Sullivan quit as joint chair of the relegated Premier League football club to fight what he said were \u2018false allegations\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Allegations that the billionaire co-owner of West Ham football club, David Sullivan, preyed on women for sex are \u201cdeeply concerning\u201d, the British government has said.<\/p>\n<p>The 77-year-old recently quit as joint chair of the London football club to fight what he said were \u201cfalse allegations\u201d about his private life.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/6\/9\/ranking-the-middle-east-and-north-african-teams-at-world-cup-2026\">World Cup form guide: Ranking the eight MENA teams in the tournament<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/6\/9\/ronaldo-messi-still-the-largest-world-cup-draws-or-is-mbappe-bigger\">World Cup star power: Do Ronaldo &#038; Messi still rule, or is Mbappe the guy?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/6\/8\/which-european-nation-has-the-best-chance-to-win-world-cup-2026\">World Cup: Rating the chances of top European teams at the tournament<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/6\/6\/world-cup-2026-can-sub-saharan-africa-outdo-noisy-neighbours-from-north\">Can sub-Saharan Africa outdo noisy neighbours from north at World Cup?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>But Sullivan, who built a business empire from owning pornographic magazines, remains West Ham\u2019s largest shareholder.<\/p>\n<p>Reports broke in the British media on Monday of accounts from seven women accusing Sullivan of sexually exploitative and predatory behaviour.<\/p>\n<p>The allegations date back to the 1980s and 1990s, when Sullivan owned British tabloid newspapers the Daily Sport and the Sunday Sport. The women claim Sullivan was involved in pressuring young or aspiring models in their late teens or early 20s.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, a spokesman for the United Kingdom\u2019s Department for Culture, Media and Sport said on Tuesday: \u201cThese deeply concerning allegations must be treated with the utmost seriousness and be investigated by the relevant authorities, with victims given the support they need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speaking Saturday before the allegations were made public, Sullivan said he \u201ccategorically denies\u201d all the claims.<\/p>\n<p>Neither he nor his lawyers has made any further public comment since Monday\u2019s reports were published.<\/p>\n<p>London\u2019s Metropolitan Police said they were investigating a report relating to the \u201calleged taking of indecent images and sexual exploitation at locations in London and Essex in the 1980s\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The force said their investigation related to one alleged victim and was being led by specialist detectives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe take all allegations of offences against women and girls extremely seriously, no matter the length of time that has passed,\u201d the Met said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs with all cases, any information or evidence provided to police will be assessed and the appropriate inquiries carried out.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"sensationalised\">\u2018Sensationalised\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Sullivan said at the weekend that \u201cthe false allegations levelled against me have been sensationalised by the media\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cAfter a lifetime spent building businesses in the adult industry, in which I have met thousands of women, it is sadly inevitable that a small number of improper conduct claims are being made against me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI categorically deny these claims.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added that standing down from his chairman and director roles at West Ham was \u201cincredibly painful\u201d, but a decision made \u201cout of love, respect and responsibility\u201d towards the club and its supporters.<\/p>\n<p>The BBC, meanwhile, confirmed in a statement to AFP that it was investigating allegations that Tony Livesey, the former editor-in-chief of the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport, had helped facilitate a meeting between Sullivan and one of his accusers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Panorama investigation included allegations about Tony Livesey which we take seriously. We also note Tony has firmly denied the allegations,\u201d a statement read.<\/p>\n<p>Livesey, currently a presenter on the BBC\u2019s specialist news and sport channel Radio 5 Live, has \u201casked to step back from presenting his radio show for a short period\u201d, it added.<\/p>\n<p>Sullivan and business partner David Gold completed their takeover of West Ham after selling Birmingham City, and brought Karren Brady with them as vice-chairman.<\/p>\n<p>Their tenure oversaw the unpopular move from Upton Park to the former Olympic Stadium in 2016, making the trio the focus of numerous anti-board protests among West Ham supporters even before the club was relegated from the Premier League last month.<\/p>\n<p>Gold died in 2023, aged 86, while Brady left her role in April.<\/p>\n<p>England\u2019s Independent Football Regulator (IFR) said Monday it is in contact with West Ham about the \u201cextremely serious allegations\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesman added: \u201cWe will use our statutory powers to seek urgent information from David Sullivan relating to his suitability under our owners, directors and senior executives regime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky bought a 27 percent stake in West Ham in 2021 and is reportedly set to increase his holding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>David Sullivan quit as joint chair of the relegated Premier League football club to fight what he said were \u2018false allegations\u2019. Allegations that the billionaire co-owner of West Ham football club, David Sullivan, preyed on women for sex are \u201cdeeply concerning\u201d, the British government has said. The 77-year-old recently quit as joint chair of the &#8230; <a title=\"UK government \u2018concerned\u2019 by abuse claims against West Ham co-owner\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/uk-government-concerned-by-abuse-claims-against-west-ham-co-owner\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about UK government \u2018concerned\u2019 by abuse claims against West Ham co-owner\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}