Scudamore handed £5m bonus to prevent him joining La Liga

Specific concerns that Richard Scudamore would take a job at La Liga or a rival sports organisation, such as the National Football League, was decisive in pacifying those clubs who opposed his £5 million payment.

Scudamore will receive the money direct from the Premier League’s central fund over the next three years, rather than as a direct series of £250,000 payments from clubs, but it was the argument for non-compete clauses stopping him from working elsewhere that prevented an internal backlash.

There was a feeling inside the Premier League that Scudamore would use his contacts and experience, especially in negotiations with Sky, to propel another sports league towards comparable television deals. La Liga was a particular concern and it was felt that this arrangement would also benefit incoming chief executive Susanna Dinnage.

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The need for Scudamore’s advice, or indeed a payment in lieu of his work at the league during the past 20 years, was not a significant consideration for many of the sceptics.

The payment has prompted a backlash among fans, who have long been calling for the league's commercialism to be reigned in, especially in the context of issues like ticket prices and kick-off times.

The Premier League's UK television rights were valued at about £670 million when Scudamore arrived in 1999. The most recent deal was worth £5.14 billion and, rightly or not, the decision to effectively keep Scudamore on at a cost of almost £1.7 million per year underlines the extent to which clubs felt that he personally was responsible for this rise.