West Ham United co-owner David Sullivan has stepped down as joint chairman and resigned as a director with immediate effect following a joint investigation by BBC Panorama and The Times into his behaviour. The Panorama report is due to be broadcast and published on Monday.
The club said it had been made aware of the impending publication of serious historic allegations concerning Sullivan. The 77-year-old said a ‘small number of improper conduct claims’ have been made against him and he ‘categorically deny[s] these claims’, calling the ‘decades-old allegations concerning my personal life’ ‘factually incorrect and entirely false’.
Sullivan, who had been in the chairman role for 16 years, said he was stepping down ‘to apply my full energy and attention on fighting these false allegations’ and to avoid creating a distraction for the club at a sensitive time. He also said he plans to sue the BBC for libel ‘along with any other media outlet that repeats any libellous allegations’.
West Ham were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2025-26 season after finishing 18th. The club’s statement said Sullivan has denied any ‘illegal conduct’ and was leaving ‘in order to avoid disruption to the club while he addresses the matter privately’. It added that it is understood none of the allegations relate to West Ham United or its operations.
Sullivan became the club’s largest single shareholder after the death of his business partner David Gold in January 2023, holding a 38.8% stake. Sullivan and Gold became joint chairmen when they completed their takeover of the club in January 2010.
The club confirmed that interim chief executive officer Karim Virani, reporting into the existing board of directors, will continue to lead day-to-day operations. West Ham said it will provide an update on the future structure of the board in due course and will make no further comment at this time.
