FA reject £1.5m pay-off claims

The Football Association in England have rejected claims they paid £1.5m in compensation to Fabio Capello following the Italian’s resignation as England coach.

Capello has been on a £6m-a-year contract since first being appointed as Steve McClaren’s successor in December 2005.

As he still had five months remaining on that deal when he told FA chairman David Bernstein of his intention to leave following their meeting at Wembley on Wednesday afternoon, there has been a huge amount of speculation about what size pay-off Capello received.

Neither Bernstein, nor his fellow Club England board members – FA chief executive Alex Horne, FA director of football development Trevor Brooking and Club England managing director Adrian Bevington – would discuss the matter in public yesterday.

However, it has been widely reported Capello has received £1.5m.

It is understood this figure is far in excess of what Capello is actually getting and the FA have today confirmed it is wide of the mark.

An FA spokesman said: “Media reports this week that Fabio Capello received a £1.5m pay-out are inaccurate.

“In yesterday’s England media conferences, the FA repeatedly declined to discuss details regarding Fabio Capello’s contract.”