Passions have always run high in football. But when Richard Masters became the Premier League’s chief executive he surely never expected to be the target of a billboard campaign or face claims he was part of a sinister-sounding “red cartel”.

His broad remit includes continuing the English competition’s rapid growth, which has made it the most-watched football league in the world. Masters has to strike broadcasting and commercial deals to keep the game’s elite clubs flush with enough cash to pay the best on-pitch talent. And he has to keep the peace between the league’s 20 ultra-competitive clubs, whose owners range from Gulf petrostates and US billionaires to professional gamblers and a Greek shipping tycoon.

Maintaining that harmony has proved tricky in recent years following a lengthy investigation into alleged breaches of financial rules by some clubs. By far the most serious charges have been levelled against Manchester City. Some fans of the Abu Dhabi-owned side are believed to have been behind a mobile billboard criticising Masters that was parked outside the league’s London headquarters last October during a meeting of club chief executives. On it, the club crests of Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United (the so-called red cartel members) and Tottenham Hotspur were displayed under the heading “Richard’s Masters”.