West Ham’s former chairman still holds the largest single block of shares in West Ham United: Sullivan may have resigned from the board but his shareholding has not yet changed.
Whilst claims exist that Daniel Kretinsky may be about to change his own share allocation, currently Sullivan is outside of the boardroom but still with several hundred million invested in the football club.
All that may be about to change, according to the Daily Mail.
In their article this evening:
“David Sullivan could be forced to sell his West Ham stake in wake of new Independent Football Regulator rules” The newspaper claims Sullivan may be forced to sell up:
“Sullivan, who denies any wrongdoing, remains the largest shareholder at the London Stadium with a stake of 38.8 per cent.
Since December, new watchdog the Independent Football Regulator has had the power to force unsuitable owners to sell a club.
On Monday night, it described the allegations as ‘extremely serious’ and said it would ‘seek urgent information’ from Sullivan.”
“The IFR’s Owners and Directors test can go further than those used by the Premier League and EFL, with forced sales included as a last resort.
Indeed, the watchdog has previously said it will be able to ‘assess the honesty, integrity and financial soundness of those who want to own or run a football club, ensuring they have the necessary skills and experience to do so’.
Should they find that Sullivan does not meet that criteria they can act.
Daily Mail claims Sullivan may be forced to sell his shares in West Ham
A spokesperson for the IFR said: ‘These are extremely serious allegations. We are in contact with West Ham on this matter and will use our statutory powers to seek urgent information from David Sullivan relating to his suitability under our Owners, Directors and Senior Executives regime. We are unable to comment further at this stage.’
The independent football regulator (IFR) is a new statutory body established by the UK’s Football Governance Act 2025 to oversee the financial sustainability and integrity of English professional football. It holds jurisdiction over all the 116 clubs across all five of the top tiers of the mens game: It is not limited to overseeing the Premier League.
The regulator’s day-to-day operations and licensing are led by Chief Executive Richard Monks and overseen by Chair David Kogan. Its primary remits include, importantly in this context, ownership vetting: The IFR enforces a rigorous Owners’, Directors’, and Senior Executives’ Test to ensure transparency, integrity, and operational resilience.
In addition, the regulator also oversees club licensing, financial oversight and heritage matters. More information on the Regulator’s role and powers can be found here.
My stance on this is a bit more ‘Big Picture,’ rather than being based on this particular issue.
We all know Sullivan is a useless chairman who lied to us and who has left us totally homeless. It may yet destroy the club.
But.
He has not been convicted of anything. Doesn’t mean he is innocent, but it also means that be.migjt not be guilty too as evidence has to be carefully examined.
What we have seen is a one sided takedown, and importantly the events happened a very long time ago. How can there really be any evidence which can support the.claims other than “he did it.” That is not enough in my opinion.
It’s not a position I enjoy taking believe me. But I’m very uncomfortable with very old accusations that arcade with little to no supporting evidence.
I won’t be happy until he sells his shares and gets out of our club forever.
IFR need to undergo rigourous scrutiny of its own people long before attempting to deem others as unsuitable.
Alright David, keep your fingers out of the pie now.
Think he’s a bit screwed under the ‘necessary skills’ criteria based on the cluster he’s caused for the last 15 years…
This is only Monday, the story will rumble on all week with features next weekend. There could quite readily be more yet…