Richard Masters wagers £100 million to rein in Manchester City

Richard Masters, the CHIEF executive of the Premier League since December 2019, is now steering a £100 million legal battle after Manchester City were found guilty of cheating a couple of days earlier. The fight, reported on 6 October 2026, has been described as the biggest scandal in British sport. Masters’ role, to enforce rules set by the clubs, has never been more scrutinised.

He first offered Sport a light‑hearted analogy, saying ‘It can be a bit like managing a creche.’ He later tweaked it to ‘It’s more like a difficult high school now – the kids have grown up and in some cases become delinquent.’ The Man behind the analogy knows the stakes.

Since his appointment, Masters has navigated a global pandemic, the Project Big Picture manoeuvres by Manchester United and Liverpool, mutinous Super League talks, a surge in foreign and state ownership, and the era‑defining trial of Manchester City. One former colleague summed it up: ‘Taking those areas as a whole, it’s a f****** tough hand to be dealt.’

Masters repeatedly stresses he is not leading a crusade against City; the club’s guilt was confirmed by an independent commission and his remit is simply to apply the rules clubs themselves voted to adopt. He told insiders that his job is ‘to administer the regulations the clubs have set.’

Legal battle and financial stakes

The estimated £100 million spent on legal resources has fuelled accusations of judicial bias favouring the league’s biggest clubs. British football has never witnessed a confrontation of such financial magnitude, and the outcome will test the perceived impartiality of the Premier League’s governance.

A dozen Sport sources agreed on three points: Masters is nothing like his long‑time predecessor Richard Scudamore; the football landscape has changed dramatically; and he would strongly reject any notion of a crusade against Manchester City. Those observations frame the legal fight as a personal test rather than an institutional vendetta.

Masters’ unconventional appointment

Masters was the fourth candidate to replace Scudamore after an 18‑month recruitment saga. Susanna Dinnage was named successor but withdrew after her appointment was announced; BBC director‑general Tim Davie also turned the role down, and David Pemsel resigned before starting amid private‑life allegations.

Before his appointment, Masters built a career in sales and marketing, with long spells at the England and Wales Cricket Board, the EFL and the Premier League itself. A former colleague remarked, ‘Richard wouldn’t have been human if there wasn’t a little bit of imposter syndrome in the initial months in the job.’

Some insiders recall that Scudamore routinely made midnight phone calls to corral the twenty clubs, earning him the nickname ‘a chief whip in another life.’ By contrast, Masters is described as more corporate and less charismatic, a style that some see as better suited to today’s diplomatic challenges.

The juxtaposition of Masters’ corporate, low‑profile demeanor with the £100 million legal onslaught underscores the unprecedented pressure on his tenure. One source warned that the case’s resolution will ultimately decide whether the Premier League’s past two decades can retain their credibility.