Sunderland England — Sunderland's American owner Ellis Short has taken over as chairman of the Premier League club from Niall Quinn.

Quinn, a former striker for the club, will "relinquish his day-to-day chairman's duties" to take on a job spearheading international development, Sunderland said Monday.

"With (UEFA) financial fair play rules coming into effect it is essential for the long-term success of the club that we develop interests on a global scale and there's no one better than Niall to sell the ethos of Sunderland to an international audience," Short said on the club website. "He has been keen to drive this change for some time and I agree that it's the way forward for us now."