Premier League chairman Richard Masters has decided to pull out of a golf event scheduled for Wednesday morning at Loch Lomond Golf Club in Scotland, the Mail reports. The event was to have been attended by him, along with Sky Sports executives and a delegation from NBC, but in light of the current "crisis in English soccer," particularly the bitter legal battle between the Premier League and Manchester City over sponsorship rules, Masters has decided to focus on this urgent matter.
Masters made the 'last minute' decision after confirming that he would meet urgently with Manchester City next Thursday to discuss the implications of the legal situation and the subsequent response. This decision certainly shows the pressure he is under.
Although former Premier League supremo Richard Scudamore attended the golf event and was paired with Sky Sports director of soccer Gary Hughes to tee off, league insiders have emphasized that Scudamore's attendance was long planned and that he is not a replacement for Masters.
Sky Sports, a major player in the £6.7bn deal, has partnered with TNT and the BBC, while NBC has vital broadcast rights in the US market, in a partnership that has lasted 15 years. This time around, NBC's team of senior executives are in the UK for a week-long planning meeting, and have undoubtedly been affected by the story.
Masters needs to be fully prepared for an emergency summit next Thursday. It comes after the Premier League claimed victory in an independent arbitration, ruling that rules introduced for commercial dealings with owner-related groups were unlawful. However, following City's successful counter-claim against the Premier League, Masters' claims that the new rules could be passed quickly have been refuted by City's legal adviser Simon Cliffe. Cliffe accused the Premier League of providing "misleading" and "inaccurate" information and warned of further, potentially costly, legal action.
