A Charity Commission inquiry into the Professional Footballers' Association Charity has found serious mismanagement that put funds at risk, with the regulator publishing a highly critical report detailing a series of financial failings spanning years.
The inquiry was launched in 2019 after the Commission identified serious concerns about how the charity, now called the Players Foundation, was being run. According to BBC Sport, the report found that 1.9 million pounds in funds from the Football Association were transferred from the charity's bank account to the Professional Footballers' Association, the players' union, without a clear explanation.
The charity also paid roughly 80 percent of the union's operating costs, amounting to around 6 million pounds annually, including 5 million pounds on salaries. Multiple trustees, including former chief executive Gordon Taylor, held salaried senior PFA roles at the same time, creating conflicts of interest that the regulator said blurred the line between the charity and the union beyond distinction. The Charity Commission noted that funding a trade union is not considered a charitable purpose under law.
The charity also owned properties in Manchester and London that the union occupied without paying rent. That arrangement cost the charity more than 627,000 pounds when interest was factored in. Both the 1.9 million pounds and the unpaid rent were eventually returned after the Commission intervened.
In September 2022, the charity received an official warning from the regulator covering mismanagement that took place from its incorporation in 2013 through the beginning of 2019. Darren Wilson, who served as the PFA's director of finance and was also a trustee, was disqualified from serving as a trustee or holding a senior management position in any charity for four years.
"In this case, the lines between the charity and Professional Footballers' Association union were blurred beyond distinction, resulting in the multiple instances of conflict of interest and mismanagement at the charity," said Angela Ascroft, critical case lead at the Charity Commission.
"Charity trustees have a duty to act in the best interests of their charity, but trustees at the Players Foundation fell dismally short of this expectation and, as a result, let down the players they were supposed to be helping."
The Commission confirmed that remedial actions have since been put in place, including proper separation from the union, appointment of new trustees, and establishment of a distinct identity for the charity. The Football Association and Premier League both stopped funding the charity after it separated from the union, and the charity has adopted a new funding model.
The Players Foundation welcomed the end of the inquiry and said in a statement that no funds were lost and no beneficiaries were impacted. The foundation said that when the Commission issued its initial findings in September 2022, it accepted that measures had already been implemented to deal with the concerns raised.
