Football
Mark Ogden, Senior Writer, ESPN FC 5y

BBC's Tim Davie second candidate to withdrawal from Premier League CEO job search - sources

The Premier League is braced for the prospect of being without a new chief executive for the remainder of the 2018-19 seaon after sources told ESPN FC that Tim Davie, a senior BBC executive, has become the second candidate to reject the opportunity to succeed Richard Scudamore as the head of the organisation.

Susanna Dinnage, a senior executive at the Discovery Channel, had been announced as Scudamore's successor last November after being selected by the five-person panel, led by Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck, as the successful candidate following a series of interviews.

But Dinnage forced the Premier League to re-start their selection process three weeks ago after deciding not to take on the challenge of replacing Scudamore, who had been in the role of chief executive since Nov. 1999.

Sources at the Premier League have told ESPN FC that the search for a new chief executive is ongoing and that the organisation accepts that the process will take a period of time.

The Premier League had turned to Davie, the chief executive of the commercial division of BBC Studios, following Dinnage's unexpected U-turn.

But his decision to remain at the BBC ensures that managing director Richard Masters will remain in interim charge of the Premier League until Scudamore's successor assumes control of the organisation.

The Premier League has enlisted the recruitment company Spencer Stuart to lead the search for a suitable candidate.

And the final decision on an appointment will be made when the five-person panel, made up of Buck, Burnley chairman Mike Garlick, Leicester City chief executive Susan Whelan and Premier League independent non-executives Claudia Arney and Kevin Beeston, makes its recommendation to representatives of the 20 Premier League clubs.

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