An independent forensic audit released on 22 September 2026 found that £240 million (€280m) created to upgrade pitches, fund women's teams and revamp youth academies across England and Wales was instead largely routed through a network of private companies and consultancy contracts with undisclosed links to senior club figures. The Community Sports Reinvestment Fund (CSRF), launched in June 2024, was promoted as a public‑private solution to a decade of underfunded local facilities.
The audit, prepared by forensic accountants Linton & Gray, says just 38% of the fund's cash has been disbursed to clearly defined community projects. It identifies a series of opaque contracts, property purchases and repeated consultant retainer payments that together account for the missing balance. The report was commissioned by a cross‑party group of MPs after complaints from county FA bodies and local councils.
How the money moved
Linton & Gray's 82‑page report lays out a web of payments that began with large tranches from the CSRF's central pot into five management companies, each incorporated within months of the fund's launch. Those companies then issued consultancies and subcontracts to a string of smaller firms that billed for project scoping, “community liaison” and feasibility studies — often at sums three to five times market rate.
"We identified repeated payments where no tangible deliverable could be produced," said Jared Lang, the lead auditor on the report. "Invoices were frequently rubber‑stamped by the same two trustees and then paid within 48 hours. The pattern is consistent with diversion rather than legitimate procurement."
They told us it was for 3G pitches; it became a property play.
Judit Jensen‑Kristoffersen, community coach
Clubs and councils react
The audit names several trustees of the CSRF and identifies commercial ties between those trustees and clubs in the top division of the Premier Tier. Per‑Åke Lindgren, listed as a former operations director on the CSRF board, appears in company filings as a consultant to one of the recipient firms. Lindgren told this newspaper he had
