Exclusive:Sheffield Wednesday points waive explained, EFL policy review, IFR stance and the date that swung it
The waiving of a potential 15-point deduction to be placed on Sheffield Wednesday heading into next season took many by surprise. Alex Miller reports.
The EFL will revisit the wording of its Insolvency Policy in a review over the coming months, The Star understands. The review is believed to have been due for some time and comes after Sheffield Wednesday had the threat of a 15-point deduction for the 2026/27 season revoked following the takeover of the club by US consortium Arise Capital Partners.
The decision is understood to have been reached when it became clear that Arise and the club’s administrators at Begbies Traynor had offered an acceptable deal to former chairman Dejphon Chansiri around his majority creditor claim, which The Star believes to have been contingent on future club success. It was felt by multiple sources across different parties that the former Owls chairman was not negotiating in good faith.
The offer to Chansiri, which is understood to have not included an up-front payment, is believed to have been time-contingent and the current status of the acceptance of that offer is not yet clear. Other unsecured creditors will receive a payment of 25% or more of their claims, The Star understands, with HMRC paid in full alongside other football creditors.
It appeared for some time that the EFL would stand firm on their policy around a 15-point deduction before a fresh deal was designed to satisfy all parties on April 17, the day that joint-administrator Kris Wigfield posted to social media that he was ‘lucky to have such a solution-driven, skilled and hardworking team’. It is understood that in a meeting between administrators, Arise and the EFL, a broad agreement was made that the offer presented was one that was fair to all parties including Chansiri.
On the basis of the fairness of that offer and the faith in which Chansiri was said to be acting in, it allowed the EFL to engage in the discretionary powers outlined in the body’s Insolvency Policy - therefore retracting the points deduction. The Star is told that the policy document, much of which was released publicly by the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust in the days after the announcement of Arise as preferred bidder in March, will be reviewed over the summer.
The Independent Football Regulator took control of new owner vetting processes on Tuesday, the next working day from the completion of Arise’s Owls takeover on Friday May 1. That date had served as a self-imposed deadline by the consortium to complete the deal amid concerns over the length of time it would take to enter into a new process with the IFR.
The IFR are known to have run a parallel process and the inference of some well-placed sources has been that the takeover would not have been able to go ahead were it not for the comfortability of the new authority, who will take on the administration of club owners going forward. The withdrawal of Wednesday’s previous preferred bidder consortium, led by James Bord, it understood to have come in the days after the IFR had written a letter asking ‘searching questions’ of the bidders and its suitability.
Conversations had even since the announcement of the takeover have led The Star to believe the Arise bid would have been fully compliant with the now in-place IFR vetting tests, though there would have been inevitable logistical delays to its ratification. The Star also understands social media suggestions that the EFL made the decision on Wednesday’s points sanction under some form of duress from the IFR to be false - and that some key figures within the IFR discovered the EFL’s ruling shortly before it was announced publicly or even at that time.
IFR chairperson David Kogan said in a statement over the weekend: “This deal is good news for Sheffield Wednesday FC, the community and the fans who have endured such a long period of uncertainty. Sheffield Wednesday's experience is a timely reminder of why the IFR was established in the first place.
"From next week, new owners, directors and senior executives in the top five divisions of English football will be assessed by the IFR helping to ensure only fit and proper persons are permitted to own and operate football clubs.”
It’s understood that the lack of points deduction is not suspended but comes with minor caveats including that Arise’s commitment to improving safety measures at Hillsborough is followed through on. There are no concerns there in that some work has already taken place and plans are being pressed on with to make the requisite structural improvements to the stadium.