Former Sheffield Wednesday owner Milan Mandaric will not try to lead a rescue bid for the crisis-stricken Championship side following talks with his family and UK-based advisors, the 86-year-old Serbian-American businessman has confirmed.
Last week, in an interview with BBC Radio Sheffield,
Mandaric suggested that he was ready to explore the “possibility” of a
takeover, as the South Yorkshire side need a “big rescue”. But having flown to London from his
California base on Monday, the serial club-owner has issued a statement to say
he is not in a position to buy the club.
Mandaric sold Wednesday to Dejphon Chansiri in 2015 and had
hoped to meet the Thai businessman to discuss a way out of the club’s grave
financial problems this week, but Chansiri declined the invitation.
In truth, Mandaric was never in a position to buy the club back and what he was really proposing was a temporary takeover, with Chansiri’s consent, to stabilise the four-time English champions so they would be more attractive to new investors. But, with Chansiri refusing to engage with the idea, it was a non-starter.
“I am of course very concerned about the current situation
the club finds itself in,” said Mandaric in a written statement. However, on reflection, I feel it would not
be in the best interest of finding the long-term solution we all want for me to
explore further my heartfelt desire to assist at this crucial time for the
club.”
His statement continued by saying he was aware that there
are “several interested parties” who are trying to buy Wednesday and he did not
want his involvement “to either slow down or hinder these discussions”.
As previously reported by The Athletic, there
are two U.S.-based groups currently in talks with Chansiri’s representatives.
Of those two, only the one led by Sheffield-born businessman Adam Shaw and
American real estate investor John Flanagan has chosen to go public.
Contrary to recent reports, Lyon majority shareholder John
Textor has not entered the race and is unlikely to do so while the French club
try to overturn their relegation to Ligue 2 for financial issues.
In the meantime, Sheffield Wednesday have recently been
given a three-window transfer embargo for breaking English Football League
rules on late payment of wages. And with this month’s payday looming, fears are
mounting that Chansiri will fail to pay players and staff on time for a third
time in four months. There is also the next tax bill to settle, a new
training-ground pitch to lay, stadium repairs to complete and pre-season
fixtures to organise — Wednesday’s problems are piling up.
If there is any good news, it appears that Chansiri’s
family, which owns the world’s largest tuna supplier, Thai Union Group, has
taken control of the Sheffield Wednesday sale process by appointing a highly
respected London-based lawyer to engage with bidders.
Mandaric, who has also owned Portsmouth and Leicester City
in the past, concluded his statement by saying he would continue to follow
Sheffield Wednesday’s fortunes and would be happy to help Chansiri in any way
he could. He also thanked the Wednesday fans who had contacted him, but said he
would not be making any further public comments.
There is one concrete way the former owner could help his
old club and it was alluded to in his BBC radio interview. When Mandaric sold
the team to Chansiri, he negotiated a bonus payment of £8million if Wednesday
are promoted to the Premier League and a further £2m if they can then stay up
for more than one season.
Unlike most such deals, this one is open-ended and would be
passed on to any new owner. This is the £10m that Mandaric told the BBC he was
still owed. Chansiri has previously asked him to drop this claim on the club
and Mandaric has told him he would be willing to discuss it, but Chansiri has
not taken him up on that offer.
Sheffield Wednesday, one of England’s oldest and
best-supported clubs, were founder members of the Premier League but were
relegated in 2000 and have spent the past 25 years yo-yoing between the second
and third tiers.
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