Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has been discussing the points deduction which was recently handed to Sheffield Wednesday.
Last week, it was announced that the Owls had been handed a 12-point deduction by an independent disciplinary panel for breaking spending rules (per BBC).
This deduction will be for the 2020/21 season and it was stated that the Sheffield club is “extremely disappointed” by the points deduction.
So, in the latest episode of The Price of Football podcast, Maguire discussed his thoughts on Sheffield Wednesday’s 12-point deduction.
He said: “It does seem a slightly complex ruling by the appeals committee. So, Sheffield Wednesday, they’ve been charged and they’ve been effectively found guilty of dates to do with when Hillsborough was sold.
“They put the sale through their 2018 accounts, nothing appeared in the land registry to 2019 and that seemed to form the basis of the EFL charge.
“So, if the sale of Hillsborough has now been excluded from the 2018 accounts, that means that Wednesday went from making a small profit of just about £2m to a whopping great big loss.
“As a consequence of that, it means that they’ve exceeded the £39m three-year limit for losses. The maximum penalty is 12 points – so they appear to have been given the maximum penalty.
“Charlton are, I think, grumpy is the word I would use. So, they are threatening now some form of appeal even though the claim wasn’t against them, because they are going to continue to be relegated and, of course, if you drop from the Championship to League One, it works out at around about a £7m hit in terms of TV money.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what Maguire had to say, seemingly the verdict has not gone down well with Charlton Athletic as they would have liked the points deduction to apply for this season.
Do you think the 12-point deduction for next season was a fair decision?
No, it wasn't very fair
Yes, it seems fair enough
Had the Owls been deducted 12 points from their finishing total this season, they would have fallen from 16th in the Championship table to 24th and the Addicks would have avoided the drop (per BBC).
So, it is clear to see why Charlton are slightly irked that the points will be deducted next season.