Club release explosive statement on curious EFL ruling that has seen Sheffield Wednesday placed under transfer embargo
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As revealed by The Star this morning, the reason behind the embargo is that their accounts for the 2019/20 season have yet to be filed after they were in turn delayed by the submission of the 2018/19 accounts, which had been held up in legal proceedings following the club’s points deduction saga.
This is despite the fact that like all UK businesses, clubs were afforded an extra three months to submit their accounts – from the end of February to the end of May – owing to the destabilizing nature of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
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The EFL have chosen not to follow the Government’s ruling in extending their deadline and so it has been reported that several clubs, including Wednesday, have been slapped with a transfer embargo.
The embargo is in place outside of a transfer window and The Star understands it is not of major immediate concern to the club, who are confident the accounts will be submitted and the ban lifted in time for the summer transfer window.
A statement released by Coventry City early on Tuesday morning explained the situation and read: “Unfortunately the EFL has decided not to replicate this extension within their own rules, which surprises us as they have amended a number of other rules due to the Coronavirus pandemic.”
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Hide Ad“It’s disappointing that the EFL have chosen to do this,” Coventry City Chief Executive Dave Boddy said in the statement.
“The Government has allowed companies to extend the deadline to file accounts and we chose to do this, extending from the end of February to the end of May.
“It’s ridiculous that the EFL's regulations on this do not replicate this approach that the Government has taken, especially when they have amended other rules of their during the pandemic.
”The EFL’s imposition of this does not have any effect on us, but it is disappointing nonetheless that they have taken this approach to take action against Clubs who are simply doing what the Government is allowing us to do.”