Sheffield United's CEO says the club do not expect to receive an English Football League points deduction and the owners would "fight hard" if any such sanction is imposed. The EFL launched an investigation after the company used to buy the club was placed into liquidation by the High Court in August.
COH Sports Bidco Limited (CSBL) agreed to purchase the Championship club for just over £100m in December 2024 but about £35m is still owed on the deal. A winding-up petition was filed in July against CSBL by United World - the club's former owners - with insolvency events able to trigger a 12-point penalty under EFL rules.
Blades chief executive officer Stephen Bettis said: "The 12-point deduction only relates to if the club or a company within the group goes into insolvency. The advice our owners have got from their lawyers is that the club certainly didn't go into insolvency." Bettis conceded there remains a risk of potential fines or points deductions, adding: "The EFL are still investigating that and there is still the risk of that from their perspective. I think if any decision is made to go down that path obviously the owners will fight that quite hard."
Bettis added: "The EFL have been aware of this for four months, if it was clear cut we'd have been charged already, in my opinion. It's clearly not clear cut and it continues to go on." Asked by BBC Radio Sheffield's Rob Staton if that means the club are not expecting a points deduction, Bettis said: "From the advice the lawyers for our owners were given - that is what we've been told."
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing