A former finance director of the Professional Footballer’s Association’s (PFA) charity arm, Darren Wilson, has been disqualified from acting as a trustee by the Charity Commission.
The regulator launched a statutory inquiry into the PFA’s charity in January 2020 over serious concerns about how it is run.
The charity, which has since been renamed the Players Foundation, was set up in 2013 to support football players during and after their careers.
The Commission has used its powers to disqualify Wilson from being a trustee or senior manager at any and all charities for four years.
Former Manchester City and Bury player Wilson is now appealing the decision in a tribunal. Before his disqualification, Wilson was also a trustee of League Football Education, a charity established by the PFA.
A spokesperson from the Charity Commission said: “As part of our inquiry into the Players Foundation (formerly the PFA Charity) we made the decision to firstly suspend and subsequently disqualify Mr Darren Wilson from being a trustee. Mr Wilson is now appealing these decisions in a tribunal.”
Under Wilson’s tenure, the former chief executive of the charity Gordon Taylor received remuneration of almost £2m for the financial year ending June 2019. Including wages, pension contributions and other benefits Wilson received over £345,000 for his role at the charity.
The PFA announced in July that Wilson would be stepping down from the role of director of finance at the association after “20 years of service”.
The Charity Commission’s inquiry into the Player's Foundation is ongoing.
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