The EFL is able to charge clubs and owners over matters such as unpaid wages or failing to meet other financial obligations, but if proven typically lead to fines and/or points deductions.
There is not a mechanism to force an owner out of a club, in the same way that other kinds of business owners cannot be immediately told to sell or give up their businesses for running them poorly.
The EFL released a statement concerning Sheffield Wednesday on Thursday, saying: “We are clear that the current owner needs to either fund the club to meet its obligations or make good on his commitment to sell to a well-funded party, for fair market value – ending the current uncertainty and impasse.”
The Independent Football Regulator, in its early stages of operations after being brought into law following the passing of the Football Governance Bill, could change the way that owners’ behaviour is monitored.
Owners will have to operate under a licence in order to run their clubs. Poor owner behaviour could theoretically lead to that licensed being revoked, and their club being unable to operate under their stewardship, potentially leading to a kind of forced sale at what would be considered market value. But that system is not in operation yet.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Wednesday, Culture, Media and Sport secretary Lisa Nandy said: “There were many, many owners who were passing owners and directors test who were not fit to own the club.
“The regulator will be able to look retrospectively at whether somebody is fit and proper to own a club – and it does also allow the regulator in very extreme cases, where the club would otherwise be lost – to be able to force the owners to sell rather than the club collapsing.”
Until that system is up and running, though, there is a vacuum – owners who are not providing adequate funding for their club for any reason cannot be prevented from doing so, whether it be by the league, the regulator, or the government.
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