Quinton, Leaver ousted
Premier officials accused of cutting unauthorized contracts
Posted: Thursday March 11, 1999 09:49 PM
LONDON (AP) -- The Premier League's top two officials were forced
to resign Thursday amid allegations they made lucrative television
deals without consulting the club chairmen.
Chairman Sir John Quinton and chief executive Peter Leaver were
accused of awarding lucrative contracts to two former BSkyB
executives for future television rights.
Quinton and Leaver allegedly made unauthorized contracts to
negotiate future deals with Sam Chisholm and David Chance which
were potentially worth millions to each executive.
Chisholm and Chance were reportedly offered annual contracts
worth more than 600,000 pounds (US$966,000) plus a 5 percent
commission on any improvement to the current 743 million pound
(US$1.2 billion) television deal.
Quinton and Leaver were effectively ousted after a vote of the
20 Premier League club chairmen Thursday.
Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dave Richards was appointed acting
league chairman and Premier League secretary Mike Foster as chief
executive until permanent replacements are appointed.
The sudden departures came three months after FA chairman Keith
Wiseman and chief executive Graham Kelly were forced out of office
in a cash-for-votes scandal.
The men were accused of making an unauthorized deal with the
Welsh FA in exchange for its vote in European soccer elections.
It leaves British soccer's three leading organizations without
permanent leaders.
The FA has not appointed permanent replacements for Wiseman and
Kelly, and the Scottish FA chief executive Jim Farry was fired
Tuesday after a three-year dispute with Celtic over a delayed
player registration.
A working party was set up by the Premier League chairmen to
investigate whether the contracts with satellite broadcaster BSkyB
and the BBC could be renegotiated.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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