Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri has EFL misconduct charge dropped

Published: 21 March 2020 6:57 AM

The Owls' dispute with the league centres on the sale of their Hillsborough ground.

Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri has had an EFL misconduct charge against him dropped, the Sky Bet Championship club have announced.

Chansiri, along with the finance director John Redgate and former chief executive Katrien Meire, were charged by the League last year for their part in the sale of the Owls' Hillsborough stadium.

But a Wednesday statement on Friday night said: "The EFL has written to the club and informed it that the EFL has dropped all of the charges it issued against Mr Chansiri, Ms Meire and Mr Redgate on 14 November 2019.

Club statement#swfc

— Sheffield Wednesday (@swfc) March 20, 2020

"Each of the individuals considers this a vindication of their defence of the charges.

"In the club's view, this decision is a recognition of the strength of the evidence that the club has filed before league arbitration panels, which demonstrated that there was no proper basis for the charges."

Wednesday have denied all allegations put forward by the EFL after it opened an investigation into the club's profitability and sustainability submission for 2017-18.

Sport Coronavirus – Saturday 14th March — The EFL misconduct charge against Sheffield Wednesday relates to the sale of their Hillsborough ground (Anthony Devlin/PA)

The Owls have been reported to have registered a £38million profit from the sale of the stadium to a company owned by Chansiri, in the wrong year in order to avoid breaching financial fair play rules.

An EFL misconduct charge against the club remains, although – in the event of a guilty verdict – neither Chansiri nor any other individual would be punished.

The Wednesday statement added: "The charges against the club will proceed to a hearing and the club will continue to vigorously defend those charges."