EFL's verdict on Sheffield Wednesday 'D Taxis' sponsorship probe revealed

The EFL are understood to be unconcerned by findings of an investigation that confirms that three prominent sponsors of Sheffield Wednesday are ‘commercially inactive’.
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The findings show that shirt sponsors ‘Chansiri’ and ‘elev8’, who feature on the front of the Owls home and away shirts respectively, are not active for public or commercial use, along with ‘D Taxis’, a sponsor shown on advertising hoardings across Hillsborough.

All three companies are owned by Owls chairman Dejphon Chansiri and inject £1.27m into the club on an annual basis, an amount not decreed as ‘excessive’ by the EFL.

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Wednesday are the subject of ongoing investigations by the authority and could face a points deduction as they stand accused of financial misconduct relating to the £60m sale of Hillsborough, which allowed them to post a loss for the three-cycle ending in 2017/18 within the confines of Profitability and Sustainability (P&S) rules.

Clubs are permitted to make a loss of £13m per year, or £39m per three-year period. The £38m profit made on the stadium sale allowed the club to post a pre-tax profit of £2.6m for 2017/18.

The £1.27m investment is allowed as the figure is not excessive for a main partner, kit manufacturer, and scoreboard sponsor of a comparable major club in the Championship. The club maintains the sponsorship sums are all “fair value”.

The investigation, undertaken by The Guardian, confirms that the ‘Chansiri’ brand that takes pride of place on Owls home shirts represents the owner’s surname, not a commercial entity.

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The club have reportedly confirmed that Elev8, a clothing company owned by Chansiri that is displayed on the right breast of Sheffield Wednesday shirts, does manufacture the kit. The Elev8 brand is also understood to be planned for use on an energy drink, for which purposes the Thai businessman has registered a company, ‘Elev8 Energy Drink Ltd’, which is not yet operating publicly.

D Taxis are not yet set up as a functioning, public-facing company, though Chansiri is understood to be intending to set it up as a taxi business.