Sheffield Wednesday in trouble again as EFL confirm new sanction | OneFootball

The Owls have been put under a third embargo

Sheffield Wednesday's financial troubles have grown again, as the Owls have been placed under yet another embargo.

The Star has reported that the EFL have put Wednesday under embargo for the breach of 'Regulation 17:3 - HMRC Reporting.'

This just emphasises what has been a truly turbulent, chaotic few months for Sheffield Wednesday, who have been in and out of embargo across the summer due to Dejphon Chansiri's ownership.

The Owls have already been under embargo after breaching the 'Regulation 16.21.8 - Future Financial Information' and 'P&S Rule 2.10.3 - Secure Funding' rules.

Their third embargo, however, is said to be a more familiar breach.

Sheffield Wednesday under a third embargo

Recently, Sheffield Wednesday have been under a couple of different new embargoes — the 'Regulation 16.21.8' and 'P&S Rule 2.10.3'—which both link to an "inability to prove that the club can be funded going forward," according to The Star.

The Star has now revealed that the Owls are under a third embargo, albeit this one's a little more familiar: 'Regulation 17.3 - HMRC Reporting.'

This states that: "Without prejudice to the general position (pursuant to Regulation 44.4) that all registrations must be approved by The League and subject to Regulation 17.3A, a club which is subject to a Default Event shall be subject to a registration embargo such that it shall not be permitted to register any Player with that club without the prior written consent of The League for the period that the club is subject to a Default Event.

"17.3A Regulation 17.3 will not apply where a Club suffers a Default Event due to the failure to discharge a COVID PAYE Liability and has entered into a Time to Pay Agreement and is compliant with the terms of that Time to Pay Agreement. For the avoidance of doubt, where a Club defaults on the terms of a Time to Pay Agreement, and such default results in all outstanding amounts becoming due to HMRC immediately, the Club shall remain subject to a Default Event until such time as the outstanding amounts are paid or included within any other Time to Pay Agreement."

In layman's terms, Sheffield Wednesday are now unable to register any new players until their outstanding payments are resolved, which ultimately doesn't change much, as Wednesday were, for the most part, blocked from bringing players in over the summer, anyway.

However, it does stop them from currently being able to bring in any free agents. The Star reports that, outside the window, clubs under embargo are only able to bring in free agents when they have fewer than 16 'permitted players.' These are players who have made three or more league starts at their current level over the course of their career.

Wednesday already have 16 of those, so new arrivals will be limited in the meantime.

EFL continue to put pressure on Dejphon Chansiri with latest embargo

This latest embargo doesn't change much right now, but it does put more pressure on Dejphon Chansiri to properly fund the club, or sell it, for the embargo to be lifted.

Unfortunately, the current Owls owner has been stubborn in his stance over a sale, as the club continues their freefall.

There are current concerns about the payment of wages once more at the end of the current month, with this embargo just compounding the misery and pessimism surrounding Sheffield Wednesday's future.

There'll be some small hope that this latest embargo may force something in the right direction, but the general consensus is that things are likely going to worsen before they get better.