Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, has confirmed he received £97,973 from the John Durkan Leukaemia Trust after appearing with four players at a function it organised in the Berkeley Hotel, Dublin, in the autumn of 1999. This was half the money raised on the night.
The payment is detailed in correspondence between the fund and one of its trustees, who claimed he and some of the other trustees were unaware of the payment until last year when the 2000 accounts were being finalised.
The trustee said he would not have approved of the arrangement if he had been aware of it. It is understood the trustees will meet next month to discuss the payment.
Around 500 people drawn from the racing and bloodstock industries attended the function. The guests included the National Hunt racing owner, Mr J.P. McManus.
He and the Coolmore Stud boss, Mr John Magnier, own 24.24 per cent of Manchester United plc through an offshore vehicle, Cubic Expression. Sir Alex is suing Mr Magnier in a dispute over the ownership of the stallion, Rock of Gibraltar, which could generate a turnover of €8 million at stud next year.
The correspondence, which has been seen by The Irish Times, shows that before finalising the trust's accounts in 2002, the trustees were asked to sign letters stating that "all trustees were aware of the arrangement whereby Sir Alex Ferguson personally benefited to the extent of £97,973 from the benefit".
Two trustees did not sign the letter and instead signed an alternative letter which allowed the accounts to be finalised. One piece of correspondence states: "This trustee did not sign the letter because he was not aware of any arrangement with Sir Alex Ferguson".
The second trustee confirmed that he did not know of the deal in advance.
A spokesman for Sir Alex yesterday confirmed that he had received the money. The four players, Ryan Giggs, Dwight Yorke, Gary Neville and Phil Neville, had received nothing. The spokesman said the event was part of the manager's testimonial year. "In fact, he was the donor on this occasion," he said.
The spokesman said it was billed as a tribute to Sir Alex. He added that the four players would not have attended if it had not been part of their manager's testimonial.
However, the trustee's correspondence states that he was not told of this arrangement. "If I had been consulted in advance, I would not have approved the arrangement," the correspondence states. It adds that the other trustee "still does not accept that this was organised and publicised as a Sir Alex Ferguson benefit dinner.
"I understood that Sir Alex Ferguson had agreed to lend his support, and many others present on the evening believed that he lent his support gratuitously to support the work of the trust."
The John Durkan Leukaemia Trust has raised €2.5 million for research into the treatment of the disease. Mr Durkan was a close friend of Mr McManus and died of leukaemia in 1998. He was a member of the family which controls the Durkan building business. He and his family were involved in horse-racing through ownership and sponsorship.
The current trustees are Mr William Durkan, chairman; Mr Eamon Doherty, former Garda commissioner; Ms Carol Hyde, Mr Tim Hyde, Mr Eamon McElroy; Mr Stanley Watson, of solicitors Matheson Ormsby Prentice; and Mr Mike Dillon of bookmakers Ladbrokes.
