Former referee Mark Halsey has reportedly accused Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore of trying to get him sacked as a pundit at BT Sport.
Halsey was dropped from the broadcasters' commentating team after writing a newspaper column calling for the head of Professional Game Match Officials Mike Riley to stand down.
According to the Daily Mail, Halsey wrote in an email to lawyers at Pump Court Chambers in London saying: "Richard Scudamore rang Marc Watson, the head man of BT, demanding they sack me.
"I received a phone call from Grant Best (BT Sport executive) telling me I had been stood down due to the article."
Reports have claimed that the Premier League have denied being involved by claiming that Scudamore was in China when Halsey's piece was published.