Features

People on the move: Celtic, Populous and more

Dominic McKay has stepped down as chief executive of Scottish Premiership football club Celtic after just two months due to personal reasons.

McKay, who previously served as chief operating officer of the Scottish Rugby Union, assumed the role on July 1 following the retirement of Celtic’s former chief executive Peter Lawwell.

Celtic announced that Michael Nicholson, the club’s director of legal and football affairs, will serve as acting chief executive following McKay’s departure. Nicholson joined Celtic in 2013 as company secretary and head of legal, before being promoted to director of legal and football affairs in 2019.

Celtic did not disclose specific reasons for McKay’s departure, but The Scotsman reported that the board’s “lack of conviction” that he was suitable for the role was a contributing factor.

Declan Sharkey, a senior principal at sports and entertainment architecture practice Populous, has been appointed general manager of the company’s new Populous Italia division.

Sharkey will be joined by principal Silvia Prandelli, who will lead the practice in Italy. Populous’ new office in Milan will be dedicated to projects in Italy, where it has been operational for 15 years.

Populous will mastermind its major projects in Italy from the new base, including its proposed scheme for a new 60,000-seat stadium (pictured) for AC Milan and Inter Milan. Read our story from last week for full details.

The Kansas City Chiefs NFL American football team has promoted four individuals to vice-president roles.

Nick Capo has been promoted to vice-president of event operations, Brad Gee becomes vice-president of football communications, Kevin Higgins will serve as vice-president of information technology, and Jeremy Slavens has been named vice-president of Arrowhead Events.

Capo joined the Chiefs in 2018 as director of event operations, while Gee began his career with the team as a public relations intern in 2009. Higgins enters his fifth season with the team in 2021 after being hired as director of information technology in 2017, while Slavens is entering his 19th season having most recently served as director of events for seven years.

Ramiz Raja has been appointed chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for a three-year term.

Raja captained Pakistan as a player and won the 1992 World Cup. He previously served as the PCB’s chief executive from 2003 to 2004 and represented Pakistan on the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee.

Raja becomes the fourth former Pakistan cricketer to head the PCB after Abdul Hafeez Kardar (1972-1977), Javed Burki (1994-1995) and Ijaz Butt (2008-2011). Raja was elected unopposed and he will replace Ehsan Mani as PCB chairman.

David Stevenson has started a new role as senior business development manager in the EMEA region at experience automation platform Realife Tech.

Stevenson previously spent four and a half years at digital agency Apadmi, most recently serving as head of business development.

Do you have news of an appointment that we should know about? Get in touch by emailing news.editor@thestadiumbusiness.com and we’ll include it in our next round-up.

Image: Populous