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Six Sheff Wed players hand in notice, money owed to other clubs, points deduction ‘inevitable’

Six Sheff Wed players hand in their notice, money is still owed to other clubs, and points deduction looks ‘inevitable’.

That’s according to the Telegraph this week, reporting that crisis club Sheffield Wednesday have seen six first-team players submit transfer requests due to unpaid wages in full or on time for May and June.

In a statement, the Professional Footballers’ Association has called the situation “shocking” and “not tolerable.”

Owner Dejphon Chansiri’s failure to pay salaries on time, coupled with debts owed to other clubs for transfers (e.g., Southampton for Shea Charles’ loan fee and salary last season and Norwich City for Akin Famewo in July 2022), has led to a transfer embargo and limited prospects of Football League intervention.

Manager Danny Rohl is nearing a ‘severance’ agreement, having had talks with his coaching staff and informed them that he will be leaving, following negotiations over a settlement with assistant Henrik Pedersen a leading candidate if assurances are met.

Sheffield Wednesday are considering internal options for their managerial position, and while Pedersen is seen as the preferred choice, Brentford are thought to be interested in making him part of Keith Andrews’s new coaching team. The Star report that Henrik is however open to staying in South Yorkshire.

Another potential candidate is Andy Holdsworth, a respected coach at the club since 2018, who has been managing first-team training sessions recently.

The Telegraph club faces restrictions over three transfer windows for exceeding 30 days of late payments between July 2024 and June 2025, with the Telegraph reporting a likely points deduction is ‘inevitable’ due to persistent late payments.

Professional Footballers’ Association Maheta Molango said: “The standard contract foresees certain kinds of situations where you can terminate your contract and this is where there is a serious and/or persistent breach. So that’s what we’ll be looking at.

“We’ve been in touch with the players. Our role is not to tell them what they need to do, [it is] to give them the tools and say, ‘this is what you could do if those criteria are met’.

“Then it is for them to assess what they want to do, because I wouldn’t take it for granted that just because certain criteria are met, automatically someone just terminates their contract. There are other considerations.

“We are in touch with them, it’s not an easy situation as you can imagine, because ultimately, you know, people need to be paid.

“Particularly for me it’s a bit shocking because normally this is stuff you see in other countries I have played in, but not in England.

“So we really want to be strong on that, and this is something that we will not tolerate and we will be very much on top of it.”

Sheffield Wednesday fan gives passionate phone call on Dejphon Chansiri and club crisis

Rob Staton (BBC Radio Sheffield reporter) said: “A lot of people ask us whether Sheffield Wednesday could face a points deduction.

“We know the club and owner Dejphon Chansiri have been charged by the English Football League relating to multiple breaches of regulations relating to payment obligations. The club is appealing.

“At some point, an independent disciplinary commission will conduct a hearing. The only way to consider what the outcome could be is to look at previous cases.

“For example, Reading were given a one-point deduction for the 2023-24 season, with a further three points suspended, after failing to pay its players on time and in full for October 2022, November 2022 and April 2023.

“The commission ordered them to deposit an equal amount to 125% of the forecast monthly wage bill into a designated account by 12 September 2023. When this didn’t happen, the suspended three-point sanction was activated.

“Then-Reading owner Dai Yongge was charged with misconduct by the EFL. The matter was referred to another commission and, at the hearing, the EFL asked that Yongge be disqualified from all football activity, including ownership and control of Reading, for 12 months.

“The commission felt a disqualification “would not achieve the immediate objective of sourcing the required funds for the deposit account”. Instead, he was fined £20,000 with a further £50,000 suspended.

“The additional fine would be activated on 12 January 2024 if the money was not deposited into an account to secure wage payments and he had to keep doing this until August 2024 at the earliest.

“Failing to consistently pay HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) led to a further two-point penalty in February 2024 (with another two points suspended).

“The Owls are currently under an embargo for breaking EFL regulation 17.3 relating to HMRC reporting.

“It is impossible to say for certain this is the fate facing Sheffield Wednesday and Dejphon Chansiri.

“However, for fans wondering what could happen, this is at least worth knowing as we await news of the eventual hearing and what sanctions could be forthcoming.”

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Here’s how fans reacted as six Sheff Wed players hand in notice, with money owed to other clubs, and a points deduction looking ‘inevitable’…

@joshkswfc: Im gonna say Windass, Chalobah, Jamal Lowe, Bernard, Valery & McNeill

@1986Owl: Add this to your “he’s fit & proper” list @EFL

@JamieLe86659730: Hope you get through this terrible time. How these owners pass the test is too easy. Clubs need more protection from bad owners

@stevie1953: He will owe money everywhere and it will all come out. He’s a dodgy operator. Nothing is as it appears and my guess is that’s why he won’t sell because there is a web of deception underneath that he’s scared will come out. Drowning man with no life belt and no sympathy

@Stuj4z: These owners should have to put money in a bond up front to cover costs for the year. 12 month rolling deal, no exceptions

@chrismuscroft: @Sjopinion10 made a good point recently. The clubs value should not include the cost of the previous owners mistakes. Based on this and once DD has been completed, is it worth ANYTHING.? Let alone the £75m he’s after? Seriously, is it worth £10m given the mountain of debt?

@DanWFA: It’s laughable now… It’s like there’s a dartboard with every possible issue that could ever happen in the existence of football and every hour someone’s going “let’s aim for 180” and it lands on… “we’ve not paid money for the transfer of akin famewo from 3 years ago?” great.

@Potters67: So sad to see a great club in so much trouble, hopefully they can find a way out of this mess.

@Craig_Chadd: Doesn’t matter who you support this isn’t good for the game we love. No one should get any enjoyment from this. As a Derby fan I feel their pain. We had this, it’s horrible as a fan.

@Andrewosborne32: If the @EFL & @PFA had owt about them then they would get this bloke out. @downingstreet this is the corruption happening in football. #swfc

@wbaa_j: shocking this. hope wednesday do get sorted. however, from a business opportunity. we must be keeping a wide eye open on opportunities to give here.

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