Charities could miss out on £250,000 as England's stars won't receive any match fees from the FA during Euro 2020 due to pay cuts as a result of the pandemic

England's players will not receive any match fees from the Football Association during Euro 2020 — a decision that could cost charities £250,000.

The FA have been forced to cut player match fees ahead of the tournament, worth £2,000 for each appearance.

Should England reach the final, the squad would collect match fees from seven matches, which would have produced a six-figure donation for chosen charities.

England's players won't receive match fees from the Football Association during  Euro 2020

England's players won't receive match fees from the Football Association during  Euro 2020 

Traditionally, players have donated their match fees to designated charities, including £500,000 to the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research.


Team England footballers’ charity, set up to donate players’ match fees to charity partners, has been in place since 2008.

It is understood the players will continue to contribute to charity from representing England, including the Players Together initiative to support the NHS last year.

The Euro 2020 pay cut comes as the FA struggles with financial losses from the pandemic.

As a result of the pay cut, charities could end up missing out on as much as £250,000

As a result of the pay cut, charities could end up missing out on as much as £250,000 

The FA announced 124 redundancies last summer, while it took out a Bank of England loan worth £175million to help them mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

Under the terms of the loan, the FA are prohibited from paying any bonuses or dividends until the debt has been repaid.

It remains unclear whether the England players such as captain Harry Kane, will receive match fees for the World Cup qualifiers in the Autumn.

A source close to the players, said: “This is a new development, players have received match fees in previous tournaments. This is a massive loss for charities, which would have received the donations. It is not good PR for the FA and is a sign of how tight finances are.”

England’s players will still share bonuses, thought to be worth more than the £6million they collected from the 2018 World Cup, if they win the tournament. However they will not receive any of the money until the bank loan is paid off.

The playing squad have scored one welcome victory this week, after the governing body agreed to pay the tax on players’ image rights payments.

Gareth Southgate's squad are under investigation from HMRC regarding FA payments

Gareth Southgate's squad are under investigation from HMRC regarding FA payments

Gareth Southgate’s squad are under investigation from HMRC over the FA payments.

Most players are paid via so-called personal service companies.

That allowed the FA not to pay the players’ national insurance or income tax.

HMRC are looking to clamp down on the payments to companies.

As a result of the investigation, FA officials and the England players thrashed out an agreement this week that will see the FA pay the tax liabilities from image rights payments to players.

Image rights arrangements allow the FA to pay players for their involvement with the national side’s promotional and commercial work.

Three Lions players each bank around £100,000 a year to allow their names to be used.

Typically, footballers set up separate companies to manage their off-field income and their firms pay corporation tax at a rate of 19 per cent.

That’s compared to the 45 per cent top rate for their playing salaries.

HMRC told the players and the FA in face-to-face meetings earlier this year, that it was determined to clamp down on payments to companies.

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