David Gold banned by Birmingham City after 'inflammatory comments'

David Gold has been banned from St Andrew's after comments the former Birmingham chairman made in today's newspapers . Gold, now co-owner of West Ham United, was due to return to his old stomping ground when the Hammers travel to Birmingham tomorrow, but following his "inflammatory comments", City have withdrawn their invitation. In a letter sent to West Ham, seen by the Birmingham Mail, the City board said: "The board feel that they are left with no other option but to withdraw Mr Gold's invitation due to the [comments] and that this is the appropriate action to take. In addition the board are also mindful of potential security issues for Mr Gold and a possible adverse reaction that may arise from the Birmingham supporters as a result of the comments made. "Furthermore, as our president [Carson Yeung] will also be flying in for the game, the board felt that a harmonious boardroom environment should not be affected as we all want a good atmosphere on the day and a good game of football." The comments which particularly seem to have irked Gold's former club centre around the vice-chairman Peter Pannu. Gold claimed he was initially offered an honorary position at the club only for it to be revoked. "I was 100% sure I was going to be given a position so for there to be a change of mind was devastating," he said. "The acrimony is with Peter Pannu and Sammy Yu [a former member of the board] as I don't think Carson [Yeung] was part of the decision to remove me from the board. "They've never spoken to me directly but Pannu claimed in an article that I was too elderly to be involved at the club. I found that disgusting and insulting." How, then, will Gold react if he crosses paths with Pannu tomorrow? "I'm a big boy, I'll shake his hand. But will I invite him out for dinner? No." Earlier today Birmingham released a statement saying: "Blues acting chairman Peter Pannu, whilst refusing to be drawn into a war of words with the previous owners, wishes to clarify that Carson Yeung and Co had never offered David Gold to remain behind as 'Chairman', which would have made absolutely no sense. "He was offered an opportunity to remain as vice president (non-executive) upon his request, which he refused. All the current allegations are false and untrue and the club will keep all options open."