A letter signed by more than 300 current and former players has urged Gordon Taylor to resign.GETTY IMAGES
The scrutiny on Professional Footballers' Association CEO Gordon Taylor "is intensifying" after it emerged that his organization is still in negotiations with the Premier League over its core funding from next year, according to Jeremy Wilson of the London TELEGRAPH. Taylor is "facing an unprecedented challenge to his 37-year tenure" amid the circulation of a letter that has been signed by more than 300 current and former players urging him to stand down and the organization’s chair, Ben Purkiss, calling for an independent review. Reports disclosed details from new PFA Charity accounts and how, "despite extensive talks," no agreement has yet been reached with the Premier League over TV income from '19 that has been worth almost £52M ($66.6M) to the PFA over the past two seasons. Publication of new accounts will "again infuriate families" campaigning for greater care toward former players who are "suffering from dementia and other serious medical conditions." The accounts report that staff costs rose in the year until June by £280,000 ($359,000) to above £4M ($5.1M). In that same period, the benevolent grants to individual former players and their families had only gone up by £35,000 ($45,000) to £565,261 ($724,300) and the PFA’s contribution to the study into the link between football and dementia stood at £125,000 ($160,000). As of June 30, the charity held funds of just over £55M ($70.5M) (TELEGRAPH, 11/19).
FAILING TO COMPLY: In London, Matt Hughes reported two of Taylor's "key lieutenants" at the PFA who play a part in determining his multi-million pound salary have "also failed to comply with the union's electoral rules and have outstayed their terms of office by almost two years." Chris Powell and David Weir’s terms as PFA Trustees officially ended in Jan. '17, four years after their appointment when the organization’s charitable arm was incorporated, but they have remained "in situ unchallenged ever since." It is understood that Taylor "attempted to force through" the re-election of Powell and Weir in '18, but this move was blocked by Purkiss (LONDON TIMES, 11/20).
