PFA official is SUSPENDED amid probe into the footballers’ charity

An official has been suspended as part of a probe into the PFA charity which is expected to produce ‘devastating’ findings, Sportsmail understands.

The Charity Commission launched a statutory inquiry into the ‘governance, management and finances’ of the charitable arm of the trade union in December 2019.

It remains ongoing – but it can also be disclosed that the government watchdog has now completed its report. However, it is yet to be published thanks to an appeal by what have been described as ex-supremo Gordon Taylor ‘acolytes’ who remain involved with the PFA charity.

The appeal is viewed by many as a desperate attempt to cling onto control and prevent potentially explosive detail being made public. No decision has yet been made but its prospects of succeeding have been described as ‘unlikely’ by those familiar with the situation.

The decision to suspend the official has also been appealed.

A statutory inquiry is the most serious intervention that the watchdog, which began looking at the PFA Charity in 2018, can take. The request for suspension has been seen by those within the PFA hoping for change as a positive sign.

Sources have disclosed that a power struggle between the new guard, led by Taylor’s replacement Maheta Molango, and long-serving officials loyal to Taylor is ongoing. 

The view among those in Molango’s camp is that the findings of the inquiry may well force the old brigade out of the door. They expect the findings to be ‘devastating’ and believe publication will trigger swift change.

There has been an ongoing power struggle between new boss Maheta Molango (pictured) and the long-serving officials loyal to former chief Taylor

Molango has been criticised for not taking up his position as a PFA Charity trustee, given the arm is sitting on around £62m in cash reserves that many feel could be used to offer immediate assistance to members suffering from dementia and their families. 

The watchdog wants both entities to be separate and one of its recommendations may well see the charity ordered to change its name to create distance between itself and the union. 

Molango also drew criticism after it emerged that the independent QC-led review into the PFA, which saw him replace £2m a year Taylor, would not be published.

Molango’s camp feel the findings published will be ‘devastating’ and result in many of the old brigade, who served under Taylor, to be forced out of the organisation

What is a complex equation has also not been assisted by the departure of the Charity Commission’s new chairman a week after being appointed to the role by the government last month. 

Martin Thomas stepped down after it emerged he was the subject of three formal misconduct at the charity Women for Women International UK. They included a 2018 incident in which he sent a picture of himself in underwear store Victoria’s Secret to a female worker. Thomas subsequently resigned in May following an investigation into alleged bullying.

A spokesperson for The Charity Commission said: ‘The inquiry remains ongoing and we are unable to comment further whilst this is the case. It is our usual practice to publish our findings at the conclusion of an inquiry.’