User blog comment:FairyRaven/Fairy Tail Chapter 363: The Stories That Demons Read, Review and Commentary/@comment-8153438-20131206145443/@comment-7418318-20131206145734

The chairman before Gran Doma was absent due to illness during the Tower of Heaven arc.

At least in the anime it was mentioned very briefely in a single sentence. Something like "Why did this have to happen now of all times, while the chairman is absent due to an illness". Not sure if it was mentioned in the manga.