The Premier League has been rocked by the shock withdrawal of Susanna Dinnage from the role of chief executive, to which she was appointed with some fanfare only last month.

Currently the global president of Animal Planet, part of the Discovery group of TV channels, Dinnage was described as “the outstanding choice” when she was announced as the replacement for Richard Scudamore, who has stepped down with a £5m golden goodbye after 19 years in the role.

No details were disclosed by the Premier League about Dinnage’s reasons for pulling out of a new job she had described as a “fantastic role” when she was appointed. The league issued a brief statement, timed minutes after Manchester United’s 4-1 victory over Bournemouth on Sunday, with wording which carried a hint of irritation at Dinnage’s withdrawal: “Despite her commitment to the Premier League in early November, Susanna Dinnage has now advised the nominations committee that she will not be taking up the position of chief executive,” the statement said.

Richard Scudamore: the ‘devil you know’ quits while he’s still ahead | David Conn Read more

“The committee has reconvened its search and is talking to candidates. There will be no further comment until an appointment is made.”

The league’s reaction was to emphasise that there will be no panic at headquarters, even though Scudamore has now actually left with his £5m, and the search for his replacement has to begin all over again.

Dinnage was said to have reflected, after accepting the move she had described as “a great privilege” to which she was looking forward “for many years to come”, and has now decided to stay at Discovery. She did not have a start date set and the Premier League had already planned in the interim to be headed by an acting chair, Claudia Arney, a non-executive director at Aviva plc and Halfords, and an acting chief executive, the long-serving former director of sales and marketing, Richard Masters.

The five-person nominations committee which has now restarted the recruitment process is chaired by Bruce Buck, the Chelsea chairman, who also chairs the Premier League remuneration committee, which awarded Scudamore his £1m salary and £1.5m bonus last year, as well as the £5m departure package. When announcing Dinnage’s appointment on 13 November Buck stressed that her experience on the corporate side of broadcasting was important to help steer the Premier League through a changing programming landscape.

Scudamore repeatedly sold the main live broadcast rights exclusively to Sky, as the league has since its breakaway in 1992, with the prices paid to the 20 clubs increasing exponentially after BT Sport emerged in 2013 as Sky’s first genuine UK rival. Now English football’s prime rights have to be navigated through the emergence of streaming via restlessly acquisitive digital platforms, including Amazon Prime, which has bought one package of 20 matches in the next round.

Buck said of Dinnage when announcing her appointment: “We had a very strong field but Susanna was the outstanding choice given her track record in managing complex businesses through transformation and digital disruption.

She is a leading figure in the broadcasting industry, a proven business executive and a great developer of people. She is ideally suited to the role and we are confident she will be able to take the Premier League on to new heights.”

The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email.

Dinnage said then, of joining the Premier League: “I am excited at the prospect of taking on this fantastic role. The Premier League means so much to so many people. It represents the pinnacle of professional sport and the opportunity to lead such a dynamic and inspirational organisation is a great privilege. With the support of clubs and the team, I look forward to extending the success of the League for many years to come.”

Dinnage had a fierce dispute with Sky last year, protesting about cuts in the fees being paid to carry the Discovery channels on its platform. She alleged then that Sky was exploiting its “dominant market position to further its own commercial interest over those of viewers and independent broadcasters”.