Sullivan banned from contact with West Ham women's and youth teams since 2023
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- The Football Association opened a safeguarding investigation in 2023 after receiving allegations about David Sullivan's conduct at West Ham United.
- A safeguarding group made up of the club, the FA and the local authority banned Sullivan from contact with West Ham's women's and youth teams and from attending their matches — restrictions that remain in place to this day.
- Sullivan resigned as co-chair and a director of West Ham on Saturday ahead of a BBC/Times joint investigation in which multiple women accused him of abusing his power and preying on them for sex; he remains the club's largest shareholder.
- Eight women, including one from the FA investigation, have made disclosures to the Metropolitan Police about Sullivan's conduct, though none have resulted in charges.
- The Independent Football Regulator contacted West Ham over "extremely serious allegations" and is seeking urgent information from Sullivan about his suitability for the role.
- Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy called the revelations "utterly horrifying" and demanded the FA explain why no further action was taken, while PM Sir Keir Starmer's spokesperson described the women's accounts as "harrowing."
- The allegations span decades when Sullivan made his fortune from pornography, newspapers and football, and all came from women in their late teens or early twenties who were young models seeking work at his Daily and Sunday Sport newspapers.
Why it matters: Sullivan sat in the director's box at men's games throughout the three-year ban, meaning the club publicly kept him in place while privately restricting him around women and youth players — and the regulator has now demanded urgent answers about his fitness for the role while Nandy presses the FA on why no further action followed the safeguarding findings.
