Exclusive: Sky pundit reacts to "really worrying" Sheffield Wednesday news involving the government | OneFootball

Lee Hendrie can't believe that the situation regarding Sheffield Wednesday has been allowed to reach cabinet level

Sheffield Wednesday's plight is currently being discussed at cabinet level, and current EFL pundit Lee Hendrie is bewildered that it has been allowed to escalate this far.

The future of Sheffield Wednesday has been uncertain ever since the end of the 2024/25 campaign, after Chansiri's failure to, firstly, pay his players on time for three consecutive months, which led to several key senior players walking out due to the breach of contract.

Then, after beginning the season with a threadbare squad, the Owls' owner is yet to sell the club, despite protests demanding he does from his own fans, protests which have been widely supported across the footballing world.

Now, the situation surrounding the club is being discussed at cabinet level, according to a report from the Sheffield Star, as Lisa Nandy, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, is "known to be concerned about the state of the club."

Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie expressed his concerns at this news in an exclusive interview with Football League World, and truly hopes that something positive can come from this report.

Lee Hendrie reacts to Sheffield Wednesday's case being talked about at cabinet level

Hendrie wasn't surprised at the news surrounding Lisa Nandy's worries about Sheffield Wednesday, saying, "This just shows where Sheffield Wednesday are as a football club at the moment.

"There's obviously a lot of talk and eyes on the club when you enter into government level, and it's really worrying, it really is.

"The number of conversations I've had with people regarding the current situation...it's madness."

Hendrie hopes that something positive can come from this report, but feels that Dejphon Chansiri will remain stubborn with his £100 million valuation, making it almost impossible for a deal to be made any time soon.

"It's worrying that there can't be a situation that can be resolved to really try and lift the football club, but it's got to tick the boxes on either side," he continued.

"Particularly from Chansiri, who will want to do things all his own way, and I feel that is where it could be really damaging for the football club.

"It's really concerning that it's gone away from football to the point where now people in government are talking about it.

"Sheffield Wednesday have to come to some sort of agreement so they can put this all to bed and move forward, before there are any tears that this club could end up going completely the other way."

Dejphon Chansiri seemingly holding on to Sheffield Wednesday ownership

Last week, the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) released a statement pledging that they would "raise the bar on owners and directors of football clubs" by launching its own Owners, Directors and Senior Executive test.

The new rules mean that the IFR can undergo more checks on the owners of football clubs and hold them to account when they aren't managing the ownership of their club properly, like Chansiri is.

The most extreme punishment here would be "requiring an owner to divest from the club," so when the new tests come to fruition, the IFR could have the power to force Chanisiri into a sale, whether that meets his incredibly high valuation or not.

The Star reports that this could come into play towards the end of the year, with the hope that progress could be made in the meantime in terms of government involvement, but the report also states that if Chansiri can find some investors who would prove to the EFL that he could afford to keep funding the club, then it would be a "big blow" to anyone wanting to purchase the club for a fair value.