Gordon Taylor was fighting for his future on Wednesday night after details of his extraordinary gambling habit emerged.
His fate will be sealed by a vote of the PFA’s management committee today.
The PFA chief executive, who earns just over £1million a year, was locked in emergency talks with his deputy John Bramhall, chairman Clarke Carlisle and PFA lawyers at their Manchester office yesterday afternoon.
Debts: Gordon Taylor has lost £100,000 betting on England and Premier League matches
Taylor is accused of placing more than £4m on 2,000 bets and owing a bookmaker more than £100,000, after startling revelations were published yesterday.
It is not known if this is Taylor’s only betting account, or whether there are further undiscovered betting patterns.
He has previously warned that the professional game should consider taking a ‘zero-tolerance approach’ to gambling.
It was only at the end of last season that Taylor offered PFA support to Tottenham and England winger Andros Townsend after he was suspended by the FA for breaching gambling regulations.
No comment: The PFA haven't said anything on the matter, but it is an embarrassing revelation
Taylor was fighting to protect his professional reputation on Wednesday and the PFA are expected to make an announcement on Thursday following a vote of the union’s management committee.
Brede Hangeland (Fulham), Jason Roberts (Reading), Ritchie Humphreys (Chesterfield), Paul Rachubka (ex-Leeds), Andrew Frampton (AFC Wimbledon), Ben Purkiss (Walsall), and overseas members Zesh Rehman (Kitchee, Hong Kong) and Moritz Volz (TSV 1860 Munchen) were all being contacted by Carlisle yesterday.
Taylor has provided an explanation to the management committee and it is now up to the players to decide if they accept his version of events. If they disagree with Taylor, there is likely to be a vote of no-confidence and his position as head of the PFA would be virtually untenable. On Wednesday night it was unclear which way the vote would go.
Trouble: Andros Townsend was banned for four months (three suspended) for breaching FA rules
Taylor refused to discuss the allegations yesterday. He held meetings during the day at the union’s offices in Manchester as he attempted to explain his gambling habit.
It is understood Taylor is unlikely to make a public statement after consulting his legal team yesterday morning.
Taylor still has the support of most of the PFA’s executive team, despite the toe-curling nature of the bets he is alleged to have made.
But there were rumblings of discontent among those associated with the trustees at the PFA yesterday.
The allegations include that Taylor bet on an England international as well as Premier League matches and some obscure horse races.
Stood up: Taylor leapt to the defence of Michael Chopra through his ordeal
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