Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri is facing a potential ban from football after being charged with misconduct over the sale of Hillsborough.
The Owls chief has been charged by the EFL along with finance director John Redgate and Wednesday’s former chief executive, Katrien Meire.
If found guilty by an independent panel, all three could be banned from football, according to The Telegraph.
The charges relate to a decision by Chansiri to sell Wednesday’s iconic stadium for £60m – a sale which helped the Owls record a pre-tax profit of £2.5m for the 2017-18 season.
However, Land Registry documents show the sale took place the following year and it later emerged that without the sale, Hillsborough would have recorded a pre-tax loss for the third successive financial year which would have put the club in breach of the EFL’s profitability and sustainability rules.
Wednesday, who could also be slapped with a points deduction as a result of the misconduct charge, said they will “vigorously defend” the allegations
Birmingham City were previously docked nine points for breaching the EFL rules with the maximum penalty being 21 points for any club found guilty.
When the charges were announced, 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.”
