Public furore over a prospective £5m golden handshake payment to Richard Scudamore has cast a shadow over his last meeting as the Premier League’s executive chairman, despite continuing uncertainty over whether the payment will be made at all.
Scudamore is set to chair his final gathering of the Premier League’s 20 clubs in London on Thursday. On the agenda are issues such as a potential cap on foreign players in the English top-flight after Brexit. Not on the agenda however is Scudamore’s parting gift, nor are there any plans to vote on it.
That has not stopped the issue of the pay-off becoming a topic of continued debate, not only eclipsing Scudamore’s departure but the appointment on Tuesday of the Premier League’s new chief executive, Susanna Dinnage.
Scudamore himself is said to feel embarrassed about the prospect of the gift, while the Premier League itself was unaware of the offer before reports appeared in the media. The idea was conceived by Bruce Buck, the Chelsea chairman who also chairs the league’s audit and remuneration committee, and put directly to clubs. Each has been asked to contribute £250,000 to the fund.
Supporters’ groups across the country have expressed their displeasure at any such move, with the Liverpool organisation Spirit of Shankly describing the gift as “laughable, if it weren’t so infuriating”.
Much of the criticism has concentrated on an apparent act of executive largesse at a time when the grassroots game in England is struggling and desperate for funding. The FA had to rip up a plan to construct 1500 new 3G pitches across the country last month when the proposed sale of Wembley was mothballed.
Reports early on Wednesday claimed that at least five Premier League clubs were against making the golden handshake payment at all. Most have chosen to remain silent on the issue and it remains possible that the plan could be scrapped altogether.
One club in favour of the gift, however, is Premier League newcomer Cardiff City. The club’s chief executive, Ken Choo, told BBC Wales that Scudamore deserved the money for the way he had transformed the competition into the world’s most popular football league.
“He has moved the Premier League on to another level,” said Choo, “and now he has allowed someone new [Dinnage] to take it further – he deserves the recognition.”