Sheffield Wednesday’s points deduction halved on appeal

(Reuters) – Sheffield Wednesday’s penalty for breaching profit and sustainability rules has been reduced to a six-point deduction from a 12-point deduction on appeal, the Championship (tier two) club said on Wednesday.

Wednesday were hit with a points deduction at the start of the 2020-21 season after being charged with misconduct by the Football League (EFL) in November 2019.

The club were found guilty of recording profits from the sale of the Hillsborough Stadium to Thai owner Dejphon Chansiri in their 2017-18 accounts, although the ground was sold a year later in an attempt to avoid breaching spending rules.

“In August 2020, the club lodged an appeal with a League Arbitration Panel against the EFL Disciplinary Committee’s decision to impose a 12-point deduction penalty on the club in the 2020/21 season,” it said in a statement.

“The club confirms that today its appeal has been partially accepted. The decision of the League’s arbitration panel is that the sanction be reduced to a six-point deduction.

“The club is reviewing the content of the decision and will not comment further until it is published.”

The independent panel that handed down the 12-point penalty decided it would be unfair to impose it in the 2019-2020 campaign as it would have meant they would have been relegated from the second tier of English football on Wednesday.

The partially upheld appeal means they move up to 23rd in the 24-team Championship on Wednesday and have five points instead of minus one.

The EFL said in a statement that it had taken note of the decision by the League’s arbitration panel.

“The independent bench… dismissed the club’s appeal relating to the issues relating to the sale of the stadium and considering the sanction; disagreed with the club’s contention that a points deduction should not have been imposed,” ELF said.

“However, they have opted to reduce the sporting penalty from 12 points to six, which will take effect immediately.”

(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru Editing by Pritha Sarkar)