David Sullivan told to stay away from West Ham home games
David Sullivan told to stay away from West Ham home games
Tom MorganMon, August 3, 2026 at 9:03 PM UTC
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David Sullivan, pictured in 2010, has stood down from his role as West Ham joint chairman but could still attend matches - Anthony Devlin/PA
David Sullivan, the scandal-hit West Ham co-owner, has been advised to stay away from home matches by the London Stadium’s landlord.
London Stadium confirmed on Monday that it recommended Sullivan avoid attending matches amid a “potential” risk of “demonstrations and anti-social behaviour by some spectators”.
West Ham will begin life in the Championship a week on Sunday, two months after seven women accused Sullivan of sexually exploitative and predatory behaviour after a joint investigation by BBC Panorama and The Times.
West Ham were relegated to the Championship in May, but will continue to play their home games at the London Stadium - Mike Egerton/PA
Sullivan stood down as joint chairman shortly before the claims were aired and hit out at “factually incorrect and entirely false, decades-old allegations concerning my personal life”. He has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Sullivan remains the club’s largest shareholder, but the make of the club’s ownership will alter this year as a consortium led by Amanda Staveley has agreed a £150m deal to acquire a 25.1 per cent stake from another co-owner, Vanessa Gold.
West Ham, relegated from the Premier League in May, open their season at home in a Carabao Cup first-round match against Portsmouth on Saturday.
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A spokesperson for London Stadium, the operator of the publicly owned venue, acknowledged in a statement “that the club does not consider there to be an ongoing safeguarding risk associated with Mr Sullivan attending the stadium”.
However it recommended Sullivan stay away from games because of the “potential for demonstrations and anti-social behaviour by some spectators”.
Fans have been protesting against West Ham’s ownership for several years outside their home ground, the London Stadium - John Walton/PA
West Ham declined to comment. It is understood that the club intends to work with the stadium operators to facilitate Sullivan’s attendance at games and that he intends on defying the recommendation to stay away once the season begins.
Telegraph Sport previously disclosed how the Football Association had taken safeguarding action against Sullivan three years before the allegations came to light. He had been banned from contact with West Ham’s women’s and youth teams for three years, but the BBC has since reported that London Stadium was unaware of the restrictions.
Sullivan has said of the action by the FA: “I wish to clarify recent media reports regarding a negotiated agreement with the Football Association (FA), which has been inaccurately described as a disciplinary ‘ban’.
“In my entire 16 years at West Ham I have never met any academy or women’s team players one-to-one, therefore a negotiated and temporary agreement with the FA not to do so until the FA resolved an outstanding complaint in relation to a single anonymous complaint regarding an event in 1981.
“The complaint had nothing to do about my time in football and it never happened. I saw it as a meaningless restriction, as it didn’t impact on my work in any way. Therefore, I accepted it for a quiet life.”
Source: “AOL Sports”
