Marcus Rashford responds to claims he is ‘commercially benefitting’ from charity work
Marcus Rashford has spoken out after accusations in the press that he has been ‘commercially benefitting’ from his charity work.
The Manchester United forward learned of a story due to be run in The Spectator this week about how he was gaining profit from his charitable endeavours.
Rashford – who topped The Sunday Times Giving List after raising £20m in donations to tackle child food poverty – has been recognised as an inspirational figure throughout the course of the pandemic, forcing the government into two separate u-turns over free school meals.
He was awarded an MBE for his efforts and also became the youngest recipient of an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester in 2020.
Rashford heard about an upcoming article claiming he had ‘commercially benefitted’ from his charity work was due to run on Wednesday (July 21).
Hitting back at the accusation, the striker posted on Twitter: “Just heard Spectator are planning to run a story on me tomorrow about how I have benefitted commercially in the last 18 months.
“To clarify, I don’t need to partner with brands. I partner because I want to progress the work I do off the pitch and most of any fee I would receive contributes to that.
“Last summer, 1.3M children had access to food support, through my relationship with Burberry children have a safe place to be after school where they will be fed, following the November investment vulnerable children have safe places to go this summer holiday, and due to my relationship with Macmillan 80,000 children now have a book to call their own.
“Do I have a larger commercial appeal following the u-turns? I’m sure. But I’m also a Manchester United and England international footballer. Why has there always got to be a motive? Why can’t we just do the right thing?”
He added: “I actually enjoy reading bits from The Spectator now and again but this is just a none [sic] starter.”
Rashford was one of three players who suffered racial abuse online following England’s Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy on Sunday 11 July. Several arrests have since been made by police.
People also flocked from across the country to hold a demonstration and take the knee in front of Rashford’s mural in Withington – with the scenes leaving the striker “overwhelmed, thankful and lost for words”.
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