Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday charged with misconduct and face points deduction over sale of Hillsborough

Sheffield Wednesday could be docked points or hit with a transfer embargo after being charged with misconduct following the sale of Hillsborough to owner Dejphon Chansiri.

The Sky Bet Championship side sold their famous ground to Chansiri for around £60m – a sale which helped the Owls record a pre-tax profit of £2.5m for the 2017-18 season.

Without the sale of Hillsborough, Wednesday’s pre-tax loss for the financial year would have come in at £35.4m, following losses of £9.8m and £20.8m in the two seasons prior.

Under the EFL’s profitability and sustainability rules, which was previously known as financial fair play, Championship clubs are only allowed to lose £39m over three years and the EFL is now questioning why the sale of the stadium was included in the 2018 accounts when Hillsborough was not sold until a year later.

Any clubs who do not adhere to the profitability and sustainability rules face a points deduction of up to 21 points and last season, Birmingham City were docked nine points for breaching the rules.

In a statement regarding the charges, which Sheffield Wednesday have vowed to “vigorously defend”, the EFL said: “Following a formal investigation into financial information provided by Sheffield Wednesday in relation to the Club’s 2017/18 Profitability and Sustainability (P&S) submission, the EFL has today issued a number of charges relating to alleged breaches of EFL Rules.

”Earlier this year the EFL launched an investigation into the Club’s financial submission for the period ending July 2018 under the relevant P&S Rules following the completion of the sale of Hillsborough Stadium.

“The EFL has reviewed a large number of documents obtained from the Club as part of this process and concluded there is sufficient evidence to justify issuing charges of Misconduct.

“The charges are in respect of a number of allegations regarding the process of how and when the stadium was sold and the inclusion of the profits in the 2017/18 accounts.

”All charges will be considered by an independent Disciplinary Commission and, if the charges are proven, the Commission can impose any of the sanctions set out in EFL Regulation 92.2.

“The EFL Board has previously agreed and communicated with all Championship Clubs a set of sanctioning guidelines, but the Commission, under EFL Regulations, has the ability to invoke a full range of sanctions should the breach be confirmed.

“The EFL continues to review the Club’s 2018/19 P&S submissions. As these matters are now subject to proceedings, the EFL will be making no further comment at this time.”

 

 

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