Former Man Utd star slams football's £1m dementia silence - 'They're a disgrace'

Daily Mirror

5 days ago

Former Manchester United defender David May believes it's 'disgusting' that football is failing to adequately help ex-players suffering from dementia and their families in spite of the game's riches
The Professional Footballers' Association has been branded a 'disgrace' for its perceived failure to adequately tackle the dementia crisis among ex-players. Former players are three-and-a-half times more likely to be diagnosed with dementia than the general population, as a result of heading the ball over a sustained period during their careers.
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The PFA and the Premier League launched the Football Brain Health Fund (FBHF), with £1million initially made available to ex-players and their families who have been impacted by dementia. But former Manchester United defender David May said that figure is nowhere near enough to cover the costs for the families of those ex-players who are suffering from dementia.
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May also claimed PFA chief Maheta Molango - the highest paid union boss in the country on £650,000-a-year - has failed to give sufficient answers as to where the money has been spent.
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'I've written to him four times now, asking where the funds go,' said May. 'They have a fund of £1m for dementia and I've asked the question on four occasions.
'The last time I asked the question his answer was, 'why don't you come in and have a chat?'. I don't want to have a chat, I want to know where the money's gone.
'But they're constantly letting people down. They're a disgrace. My former boss at Blackburn, Tony Parkes, is now in a home. He doesn't have a clue what's going on and he's going to pass away in there.
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'I'm not saying if you put him in an environment with better facilities, he's going to get better. But if he was in a facility with other ex-players, maybe he would have a better quality of life, with familiar faces around him.
'But the PFA just keeps knocking us back, but that makes us even more determined to believe that our day will come. The PFA needs to address it properly and think, 'we need to do something for these ex-players'.
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'Families are asked 'do the players have assets they can sell?' or 'can they remortgage?' and 'can they sell their house?' - they shouldn't have to.
'The game is awash with money. Half a billion pounds in agents' fees went out of the game last year. It shouldn't have to fall on the Government to pay for the welfare for footballers, when there's that much money in the game. It's disgusting.'
May is part of the Football Families for Justice (FFJ) group, aimed at improving the lives of former players suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, which has been backed by Sir David Beckham.
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England World Cup winners Sir Bobby and Jack Charlton died after suffering from dementia, as did fellow 1966 heroes Martin Peters, Ray Wilson and Nobby Stiles. More recently, former United defender Gordon McQueen passed away from dementia, while ex Bradford and Hull striker Dean Windass, 55, has been diagnosed with the degenerative condition.
The PFA said they have made offers to meet with May to discuss his views and their work on the issue, with that door still open to him. The union also said £1m was an initial figure to launch the FBHF, but the total amount of funding committed on an ongoing basis and allocated to families has exceeded £3m.
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