PFA faces new probe after ‘£1.9m was misplaced from its charity account’ after inquiry by Charity Commission
The Professional Footballers’ Association is set to face fresh probes after it was reportedly found that £1.9million had been misplaced from its charity bank account.
The Charity Commission have been holding an investigation into the organisation and identified the error that saw the large quantities of the money transferred to the PFA’s Accident Fund.
According to the Telegraph, the PFA have called the mistake ‘an error in accounting’ and that the money has since been repaid with interest.
The PFA, led by current chief executive, Gordon Taylor (above) are facing fresh probes after ‘£1.9m was misplaced from its charity account’
A source told the publication: ‘If this is an ‘error’ as stated in the accounts then it’s a fairly significant error.
‘[It was] the Charity Commission, as part of their statutory inquiry, [who] have discovered that £1.9million was missing from the charity’s accounts.’
The charity accounts, as part of the PFA’s several funds, show how £1,906,760 was returned from the Accident Fund to the year ending June 30, 2019 after being incorrectly transferred from there in the previous year.
The Telegraph reported that the Charity Commission said it would not comment on an ongoing inquiry and the PFA did not respond to the claim that the error was identified by the Charity Commission.
The publication of the charity’s accounts have also led to concerns over whether charity funds should be helping the union’s salaries, with the report also claiming £378,199 is owed to the PFA Charity by its commercial arm PFA Enterprises Ltd.
The news comes following a review into the trade union’s governance which will see current chief executive Gordon Taylor stand down from the role.
Taylor, who has been in the role for 40 years, has agreed to step down following the publication of the review, which has been seen by the PFA’s management committee but has not yet been made public.
A successor is being sought and they will earn a salary of around £500,000 – a quarter of The £2million currently being paid to Taylor reflecting on how there is acknowledgment that his wages are too high.
Sportsmail revealed in September how finance director Darren Wilson is paid £350,000 a year, a revelation that has caused outrage across the game.
That figure is more than four times the average for someone carrying out the same role at an EFL club and is significantly higher than that of EFL chief executive Rick Parry.
The PFA’s management committee have acted on some of the key recommendations by appointing a three-person selection panel of independent chair Gary Neville, PFA director Edward Canty and Oxford defender John Mousinho.
That group will appoint four new independent non-directors who will then lead the search for Taylor’s replacement.
They will then work with the new incumbent in a structure which will see a dilution of the power base Taylor holds at the head of the union.
But even the selection process of those on the independent all-white panel has caused outrage among black players and coaches, with a letter by the PFA equalities team to PFA chairman Ben Purkiss calling the selection ‘incomprehensible’.
PFA sources insist that the equalities team have been asked to provide input by the selection panel into the appointment of four new directors, but that does not appear to have mollified them.
The panel was appointed on the recommendation of Naomi Ellenbogen QC, who chaired Sport Resolutions’ independent review.
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