McKie Leaves as Scottish Rugby Union CEO with Immediate Effect

Chief executive of the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) Gordon McKie has left his position, despite winning a confidence vote from the present board after an emergency meeting at Murrayfield last week.

The meeting was arranged after media speculation suggested that McKie would be leaving after six years in the job, however, the SRU has now confirmed in a statement that he is exiting Scottish rugby’s governing body “with immediate effect”.

The statement failed to state as to whether McKie resigned or had been forced to quit after the accountant reduced the SRU’s overdraft from £20m (US$32.6m) to about £15m ($24.4m) since taking charge.

McKie stated: “I will look back on my time at Murrayfield with a real sense of pride as much has been achieved since the dark days of 2005.

“I very much appreciated the board’s recent unanimous vote of confidence in the executive management team and I take this opportunity to thank them for their continued support.

“However, from a personal perspective, I instigated discussions last weekend after considering matters with my family, as the time is right for me to leave Scottish Rugby and move on to fresh challenges.”