Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has apologised after a number of "inappropriate" emails were leaked to the media by his former personal secretary.
According to The Mirror, Scudamore, who has regularly championed equality for women in football, sent a number of emails to colleagues which contained sexist slurs.
In a statement issued on Sunday morning, Scudamore said: "These were private emails exchanged between colleagues and friends of many years.
"They were received from and sent to my private and confidential email address, which a temporary employee who was with the organisation for only a matter of weeks should not have accessed and was under no instruction to do so.
"Nonetheless I accept the contents are inappropriate and apologise for any offence caused, particularly to the former employee. It was an error of judgement that I will not make again."
Scudamore had cancelled an appearance on BBC radio on Sunday morning for "legal reasons" following the publication of the story.
