WEST HAM have said a “very limited number” of their staff were made aware of a 2023 decision to ban co-owner and former chairman David Sullivan from contact with the club’s youth and women’s teams.

In their first statement since it was revealed on Tuesday that Sullivan had been barred from having access over safeguarding concerns, the club said that “confidentiality rules” prevented the restrictions from being widely known internally, a day after the owners of the London Stadium had voiced concerns about not having been told.

West Ham claimed Sullivan, who stood down as joint-chairman last week after being informed that historic allegations of misconduct were about to be published, was the only member of the club’s board who knew about the restrictions, which related to a complaint made to the FA three years ago.

Action was taken to restrict access following a joint decision by the club, the FA and Newham Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), the safeguarding arm of the local authority.

The complaint was not related to allegations published last week following a joint investigation by the BBC and The Times regarding Sullivan’s conduct while working in the adult industry during the 1990s.

West Ham also said they only became aware of the allegations against Sullivan, which were made public during a broadcast of the BBC’s Panorama on Monday, a month ago when he himself notified the board.

Sullivan denies the allegations made against him and has indicated he intends to sue.

“The club wishes to make it clear that the safeguarding measures put in place in 2023 in relation to David Sullivan strictly followed West Ham’s stringent safeguarding policies, as agreed with the FA and the Newham LADO,” the club said.

“This meant that only a very limited number of West Ham employees were informed of these measures, and these individuals were bound by strict confidentiality rules.

“To be clear, none of the board representatives of shareholders other than David Sullivan were aware of these measures until they were reported in the media this week. These safeguarding measures were a result of a single complaint to the FA and are not linked to the serious further allegations published in the media this week.

“As it relates to the serious allegations published by the media this week regarding David Sullivan, the full board was first made aware of potential allegations about a month ago, when Mr Sullivan advised the board that some allegations may appear in the media without providing any further detail as to the severity of the allegations.”