Change is coming – Government warns Sheff Wed owner Dejphon Chansiri amid unrest

Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri has been warned by the Government that “change is coming” amid continued calls for him to sell the club.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy issued a reminder on Wednesday that football’s independent regulator will, once fully up and running, have the power to force an owner to divest from a club in extreme circumstances.

Owls fans and local MPs are continuing to demand Thai businessman Chansiri sell the cash-strapped Championship club.

Various embargoes have been placed on the club for tax debts, late payments to players and staff, while money owed to rival clubs has left them in a perilous financial position.

Nandy told the Culture, Media and Sport committee on Wednesday, there was a backstop “that if necessary, the football regulator can intervene in order to remove an owner who is threatening the future of the club”.

She added: “And I would say, in relation to Sheffield Wednesday, the Government’s view is very strongly that football club owners are custodians of those clubs, and they have a responsibility to hand them on in better shape to the next owner and to the next generation of fans.

“In Sheffield Wednesday’s case, I am really extremely concerned about the current ownership and the lack of willingness to sell the club and invest in the club, something I’ve been discussing very closely with local MPs.

“The Government is keeping a very close eye on it and our message to those owners is that change is coming.”

Nandy said delays in an ongoing inquiry into the appointment of David Kogan as the regulator’s chair were having “real world consequences” for football clubs and their supporters.

The Commissioner for Public Appointments, William Shawcross, is investigating Kogan’s appointment after it emerged he had donated money to Sir Keir Starmer and to Nandy in their respective bids for the Labour leadership in 2020.

That led to accusations of “cronyism” from Conservative MPs, although Kogan was first approached regarding the role by the previous Conservative Government.

Nandy has now stepped back from the appointment of the regulator chair and handed responsibility to Sports Minister Stephanie Peacock.

“From a political point of view, I had understood that that inquiry, which opened in the middle of May, would conclude within a matter of weeks,” she told the CMS committee.

“It is obviously having real world consequences that that hasn’t yet concluded, and (I’m) very keen that we’re able to move forward in whichever way the Minister for Sport determines as quickly as possible.”