The charity of football players has been criticized by the Charity Commission

A Charity Commission investigator found “serious mismanagement” at a charity set up to risk money from former and current professional footballers.

The question started in In 2019, the commission said it had “serious concerns” about how the Professional Footballers’ Association’s charity – now the Players’ Foundation – was run.

He has now published a critical report detailing a series of failures.

They include the transfer of £1.9m from the Football Association from the charity’s bank account to the Professional Footballers’ Association, the players’ union, “without clear explanation”.

The charity pays 80% of the union’s running costs – £6m a year, including £5m in wages. “Several trustees” – including former chief executive Gordon Taylor – were in paid senior PFA roles, creating a conflict of interest.

Funding trade unions is not considered a charitable purpose by law, the regulator said.

The charity owned a union rent-free property in Manchester, London. This cost the charity more than £627,000, including interest, the commission said.

£1.9m and unpaid rent was recovered following the commission’s intervention.

The charity received an official warning from the regulator in September 2022 for “mismanagement between 2013 and early 2019”.

Trustee, Darren Wilson – who was the PFA’s finance director – has been banned from being a trustee or holding a senior management position at the charity for four years.

The Charity Commission said: “Remedial measures have now been taken at the charity, including the proper separation from the association, the appointment of new trustees and the establishment of a separate identity for the charity.”

“The Football Association and Premier League have adopted a new funding model after they stopped funding the charity when it separated from the association.”