Sheffield Wednesday crisis: Football regulator insists it does not want 'drawn-out' takeover as checks go on

The Owls went into administration in October, and those running the club in the interim announced on Christmas Eve they had identified a preferred bidder, although the name was not put forward to the Football League (EFL) until the new year.

The decision on whether a takeover should be approved or not lies with the League and not the regulator, but the latter has still got involved in conversations around the deal.

However, a spokesperson for the IFR has stressed: “The last thing Sheffield Wednesday fans want is a long, drawn-out process which further destabilises the club."

The IFR was set up by the Government to take over-arching decisions about English football's bigger pictures, and the first legal responsibility it was granted was to run more thorough "fit and proper person's" tests than those currently in operation in the various leagues.

The powers to vet new owners does not come online until May, so as long as the Owls takeover can be completed by then, they will have no say on the matter. The regulator does already have the power to rule on whether existing owners are suitable if concerns are brought to it.

It is for that reason it says: “We are engaging with representatives of the preferred bidder and the administrators, seeking further clarity in relation to their intention to purchase Sheffield Wednesday Football Club.

“We don’t want to be having to engage with the bidders for the first time when our powers to assess new owners and directors come online later this year.”

They are keen to stress they are not running a "shadow process", simply asking questions in the search for clarity.

Although neither Sheffield Wednesday, its administrators, the League or the regulator have named the preferred bidder, frontman James Bord revealed his identity and that of his partners, Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil and Felix Roemer, in January.

All three are directors of Trelights Pebble Limited, registered with Companies House in December, presumably to facilitate the purchase, which is expected to cost around £32m.

That Roemer is German, Bin Jamil a member of the Jordanian royal family and Bord is based in Las Vegas, and that gambling and cryptocurrency are understood to be their main sources of income – Bord won the 2010 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event – makes the test more complicated for the Football league, which is under huge pressure to get the decision right.

Regulator David Kogan spoke to The Yorkshire Post as soon as he was appointed in October about "Sheffield Wednesday being the absolutely critical topic that it currently is" and the League will be conscious that they approved previous owner Dejphon Chansiri’s owenrship, albeit a decade before the club went into administration.

Bord has paid a non-refundable deposit reported at £2.5m to be the preferred bidder and is at present covering the club's losses, estimated to run to around £1m a month.

Joint administrators Begie Traynor said last week the club had sufficient funds to see the Championship season out, though whether this would change were Bord's bid to collapse is unclear.

On the field, Wednesday are on minus seven points thanks in part to 18 points deducted as a result of their financial problems. They are well on course to be the first team in history relegated in February – potentially at Bramall Lane on 22nd – one of many dismal records they could break.