Sheffield Wednesday’s chairman is urged to meet with the shadow pensions minister – after he called on fans to raise £2m to help the club avoid a transfer embargo and admitted players and staff may not get paid due to ‘cash-flow issues’

• Gill Furniss is also the Labour MP for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough
• She said she was ‘concerned by the financial position of Sheffield Wednesday
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’ 

The shadow minister for pensions has requested a meeting with Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri over the club’s finances.

Chansiri called on fans to raise £2million on Tuesday in order to save the club from falling into a multi-window transfer embargo and admitted players and staff may not get paid due to ‘cash-flow issues’.

But on Wednesday the Thai businessman confirmed all players and staff had been paid their salaries in full and that an outstanding tax debt had also been settled to avoid the club being placed under an extended transfer embargo.

Gill Furniss, Labour MP for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough, said she was ‘concerned by the financial position of Sheffield Wednesday’ and was waiting to hear from Chansiri.

She said: ‘Whilst it is welcomed that players and staff have now been paid, the potential consequences of the outstanding HMRC bill will be causing huge amounts of stress for all stakeholders of the club, including employees and fans.

Gill Furniss, Labour MP for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough, said she was ‘concerned by the financial position of Sheffield Wednesday’

Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri asked fans to raise £2million to pay off debts owned to HMRC, cover the wage bill and prevent a lengthy transfer embargo

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On Wednesday it was confirmed that all players and staff had been paid their salaries in full 

‘It is the responsibility of the owner to fix this problem, not fans. I have contacted Sheffield Wednesday to request a meeting with Dejphon Chansiri and am awaiting a response.’

In an interview with the Sheffield Star on Tuesday, Chansiri said the outstanding HMRC debt had not been paid due to ‘cash-flow’ problems and that if 20,000 fans each donated £100 it would resolve the issue.

Chansiri, who insisted he was not playing games with fans who had protested against his running of the club, then confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that all outstanding payments had been met.

He said: ‘I can confirm that all our players and staff have been paid their salaries in full. I can also confirm that the outstanding HMRC amount has been satisfied and the EFL embargo will be lifted.’

He added: ‘When I was asked what would happen if money owed to me was not paid in time, I said if 20,000 fans paid £100 each it would resolve the issue.

‘I was making the situation totally clear if I did not have the available funds but ultimately it did not come to that.’

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