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Neither nan Women’s Super League nor West Ham United women’s squad were alert of nan restrictions placed connected David Sullivan’s relationship pinch nan team, nan Guardian has learned.
Sullivan, who is West Ham’s largest shareholder, has faced restrictions connected his interaction pinch nan women’s squad and their younker teams since 2023 because of a safeguarding investigation.
The Football Association opened an enquiry successful nan aforesaid twelvemonth aft receiving a complaint, which nan Guardian understands was an allegation of intersexual misconduct unrelated to football.
In a associated investigation by nan BBC and nan Times, 7 women accused nan 77-year-old of predatory behaviour, pinch alleged incidents making love backmost to nan 1980s. Through his lawyers, Sullivan has said he denies nan allegations.
Sources adjacent to nan playing squad astatine West Ham’s women’s broadside person said nan squad are appalled by nan allegations, which they were not alert of earlier nan communicative collapsed this week.
Separate sources, however, said that it would person been a breach of nan section authority’s safeguarding regulations for nan league, players aliases unit to beryllium informed of nan specifications of an ongoing safeguarding case.
A West Ham spokesperson said connected Wednesday that nan nine had “clear and robust safeguarding measures successful place, measures that are independently assessed and audited connected an yearly basis”, but nan nine could not remark connected individual cases.
An FA spokesperson said: “We return each safeguarding allegations and concerns very seriously, and we analyse each lawsuit wrong our jurisdiction thoroughly.
“The purpose of our process is to safeguard children and adults astatine risk, and we are incapable to remark connected individual safeguarding matters, including cases that stay active.”
Sullivan resigned arsenic a West Ham director and co-chair of nan precocious relegated men’s Championship nine earlier nan publication of nan claims astir his conduct.
Sullivan has ne'er been listed arsenic a head of West Ham United Women Football Club Limited connected Companies House. His son, Jack Sullivan, was a head of nan women’s club’s institution betwixt November 2017 and May 2021 and was nan attraction of a down nan scenes BBC documentary that followed nan women’s team’s progress, titled Britain’s youngest shot boss, successful 2018.
West Ham vanished 10th successful this season’s WSL, a section tally independently by WSL Football since 2024 aft leaving nan FA, which had organised nan section since 2011.
David Sullivan said successful a connection connected Wednesday: “I wish to explain caller media reports regarding a negotiated statement pinch nan FA, which has been inaccurately described arsenic a disciplinary ‘ban’. In my full 16 years astatine [West Ham], I person ne'er met immoderate academy aliases women’s squad players [one to one], truthful a negotiated and impermanent statement pinch nan FA not to do truthful until nan FA resolved an outstanding title successful narration to a azygous anonymous title regarding an arena successful 1981 was entered into.
“The title had thing to do [with] my clip successful shot and it ne'er happened. I saw it arsenic a meaningless restriction, arsenic it didn’t effect connected my activity successful immoderate way, truthful I accepted it for a quiet life.”
