Agreement is close for charity with a panel of experts, as well as residential care costs being covered for ex-footballers suffering from dementia.
A dementia fund – led by the Premier League – is close to being agreed, Mail Sport understands.
Talks over vital help for ex-players suffering from neurodegenerative diseases have been ongoing for some time. Agreement on many areas has now been reached.
A new charity is expected to be launched and – crucially – long-term residential care costs are set to be covered.
However, the Players’ Foundation – the controversial charity arm of the PFA that has around £60million sitting in the bank – are not expected to be a contributor in the first instance. Given that the fund is likely to be in the shape of an independent charity, it could transfer cash at a later date.
Research has shown that ex-players are three and a half times more likely to die from dementia than the general public.
Scores of former footballers have been diagnosed and currently there is little financial support for them.
In 2021, PFA chief executive Maheta Molango urged football’s stakeholders to create a fund.
While nothing has been signed off, an interim measure is likely to be set up until the charity is created, that would afford assistance to those with desperate need.
The charity is expected to feature a panel of medical experts, who would dictate where funding was allocated.
The Premier League, PFA, FA and EFL remain in talks, with an official announcement expected within a month.
A spokesperson for Head for Change, the charity who suggested such an approach, said:
“We are delighted that our proposals appear to have been acted upon.”
Source: Dailymail
