Dejphon Chansiri has been questioned over whether he is playing games with Sheffield Wednesday fans.
According to journalist Alex Miller, Chansiri has denied that his ‘astonishing’ plea for fans to pledge £2 million to save the club is not ‘game play’ or a ‘show of strength’.
The Owls were placed under embargo last week and will be unable to register any players until it is lifted, which will only occur once the club have paid off their debts to HMRC.
However, Dejphon Chansiri has now revealed in an interview with the Sheffield Star that cash problems in his personal business life means he is unable to pay the fee immediately.
Staff members and players are expected to go unpaid this month, while the Owls chairman has now asked fans to pay a whopping £2 million to save their club.
Chansiri said: “With HMRC, if we don’t pay until, say, the fifth of November, then that means it’s been 14 days, but if we don’t pay wages as well then that’s five days – that means a total of 19 days. Each issue counts separately.
“If 20,000 people gave £100 then it’s £2m, and it’d be clear – so we can finish it. That would cover everything, HMRC and the wages. That would need to be done before November 10th if they don’t want to pass the 30 days, but that means that there can be no next time. It’d need to be before to make it safe – if it was on the fifth then there would be 10 days left… If we were to hit 30 days then we’ll get a ban for three windows.”
Chansiri previously criticised supporters and told them that he would no longer fund the club due to the treatment he had received. He has now claimed that fans will only ‘have the right’ to ask him to leave Hillsborough if they pay the funds needed by HMRC.
Fans have been left shocked by Chansiri’s appeal, however it is thought that there has already been a number of calls made to the club regarding the £100 payments.
The Sheffield Star’s Alex Miller has said he questioned Chansiri on his intentions in asking fans for money.
Writing on X, Miller said: “To reiterate on this; my initial response – and I said this to DC – was that this was game play / a shot across bows / show of strength to protesting fans. Asked him multiple times if this was the case, he categorically denied it. Was on the call – difficult to gauge.”
A truly unbelievable plea from Dejphon Chansiri
Dejphon Chansiri‘s family has a net worth of around £470 million, but is demanding Sheffield Wednesday fans to keep their club alive themselves.
The Owls have found themselves in a heartbreaking state and they are far from the first club for this kind of situation to occur outside of the Premier League. The EFL need to start taking responsibility when they allow takeovers to happen if it looks like financial constraints will be an issue in years to come.
Sheffield Wednesday fans shouldn’t have to pay to save their club, but they have such a huge, dedicated fanbase that most won’t need to be asked twice to do so.