David Sullivan has defiantly attended West Ham‘s first game of the season at the London Stadium, despite being advised to stay away from home matches after being accused of multiple counts of sexual misconduct.
The club’s co-owner and largest shareholder, 77, resigned as co-chair in June ahead of the airing of a BBC Panorama and Times investigation in which seven women accused Sullivan of predatory behaviour, which he strongly denies.
Daily Mail Sport reported on Friday that Sullivan believes he is being ‘bullied’ into missing West Ham’s Carabao Cup clash against Portsmouth on Saturday by ‘keyboard warriors’, after operators of the London Stadium advised against him attending over fears of potential fan unrest.
West Ham’s fan advisory board warned that his presence would cause ‘offence and upset’, while many inside the club were left staggered upon learning that Sullivan planned to defy the advice and attend.
Sources close to the co-owner told Daily Mail Sport that Sullivan is concerned about the state of the team heading into their first season in the Championship in 14 years and also over the lack of transfer activity in the summer window.
As a result, Sullivan felt he needed to watch the first game of the season, according to sources.
David Sullivan takes his seat at the London Stadium for West Ham’s game with Portsmouth
Sullivan was accused in June of preying on a string of women, some in their teens, during his time as a newspaper chief stretching back to the 1980s as seven women came forward to give detailed accounts of predatory behaviour they had experienced, including pressuring them for sex or oral sex by suggesting it would help their careers. Sullivan described the allegations as ‘factually incorrect and entirely false’.
Sources close to Sullivan also claimed he’s received numerous messages from fans urging him to attend despite his presence at matches last season sparking continued protests from spectators against his ownership, including marches, boycotts, sit-ins, black balloons and thousands of fans brandishing red cards.
The Panorama investigation revealed that Sullivan had been banned from contact with West Ham women’s and youth teams for the past three years.
Prior to Sullivan’s attendance today, London Stadium’s operator asked to be made aware of any planned visits from the co-owner so it could implement its own safety measures.
West Ham are said to have told the operator that they do not consider there to be an ongoing safeguarding risk associated with Sullivan attending the stadium.
Until recently, it appeared as though Sullivan’s grip on West Ham was loosening when it was announced in June that Vanessa Gold, daughter of former co-owner David, had agreed to sell part of their stake in the club to fellow shareholder Daniel Kretinsky. The move that would have seen the Czech billionaire overtake Sullivan as leading shareholder.
Sullivan, with Karren Brady in 1993, resigned as West Ham’s co-chair in June ahead of the airing of an investigation in which seven women accused Sullivan of predatory behaviour
Last week, however, a new announcement confirmed that Gold had accepted a new offer from a consortium led by former Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley for her shares. Staveley agreed to buy a 25.1 per cent stake for £150million, which values the club at around £600million, and would still leave Sullivan as the leading stakeholder.
Staveley, though, has reportedly also made an offer to Sullivan, who is believed to be open to selling his stake in the club but values it at much more.
