Sheff Wed: Expert View

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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