Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) CEO Maheta Molango said his organization believes many senior Sheffield Wednesday players could potentially terminate their contracts after the English second-tier club failed to pay their salaries on time.
"In the standard contract there are some situations where a player can terminate his contract. That is if there is serious and/or persistent misconduct. That is what we are looking at," Molango was quoted as saying by The Athletic, Thursday.
“Unfortunately, Sheffield Wednesday have a pattern of late payments, this is the third time in the last four months.”
"We have communicated with the players. Our role is not to tell them what to do, but to give them the tools and explanations: 'Here are the options you can take if the criteria are met'," he continued.
Wednesday were due to pay June's wages on Monday (30/6). However, club owner Dejphon Chansiri decided to only pay the wages of the U-21 team players and some non-playing staff.
The Thai businessman also pays manager Danny Rohl's full salary, so if another club wants to recruit the German coach, Wednesday will receive financial compensation.
But it seems almost everyone else is now free to leave.
According to FIFA regulations, players can terminate their contracts if they are late in paying their wages for two consecutive months. They are only required to give 15 days' written notice, during which time the club can remedy the situation by paying the outstanding wages.
But Molango explained that Wednesday's players would likely be able to terminate their contracts now, under the terms of standard footballer contracts in England.
"In the standard contract, there are some situations where a player can end his contract. That happens if there is a serious and/or persistent violation. That is what we are looking into," he said.
Currently, the English Football League (EFL) has imposed a three-window transfer ban on Sheffield Wednesday due to late payment of salaries to players, staff and HMRC.
