When Sheffield Wednesday's players could lawfully terminate Owls contracts with 'just cause'

It’s now been 10 days since Wednesday’s players, coaches and non-footballing staff were expecting their wages for the month of May, but as of this morning many remain completely unpaid and the club remains under embargo by the English Football League regarding ‘Regulation 54.1 - Non-payment to Players’.

Both the club and Dejphon Chansiri have also been charged by the EFL, and given 14 days on June 3rd to respond, with the scope of punishments available to the league ranging from fines and points deductions to explusion and suspension of membership. Meanwhile, though not confirmed, it’s also likely that the club have breached the 30-day rule and are now in the midst of a three-window transfer fee restriction.

Sheffield Wednesday’s unpaid wages

So things are not looking good for the Owls at present, but they could still get worse. With the next payday in three weeks’ time, in around five weeks - if still unpaid - even players with long-term contracts at Hillsborough could walk away for free in accordance with Article 14bis of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.

The relevant regulation reads, “In the case of a club unlawfully failing to pay a player at least two monthly salaries on their due dates, the player will be deemed to have a just cause to terminate his contract, provided that he has put the debtor club in default in writing and has granted a deadline of at least 15 days for the debtor club to fully comply with its financial obligation(s). Alternative provisions in contracts existing at the time of this provision coming into force may be considered.”

With Wednesday’s players and staff usually paid on the last day of the month, their next due payment is likely set for June 30th, and in line with the above regulations it means that should that day pass without payment - and the current money owed has still not been settled - then players will be able to inform the club of their intention to leave in 15 days’ time. If payments aren’t received in those 15 days, then they will be free to rip up their deals, regardless of how long is left to run on them.

This isn’t the first time that this scenario has reared its head at Wednesday, with a situation back in 2021 leading to players taking action over unpaid wages at that point - however the amounts were eventually settled and nobody left as a result of it.

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