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Docked 3 points

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Wigan Athletic have failed to pay all players on time on the fifth occasion this season.

BBC Radio Manchester understands some of the first-team squad have been paid for this month while others have not.

A club statement said chairman Talal Al Hammad had on Friday paid 'as many employees as possible within the organisation with the resources available'.

The remaining wages are due to to paid by Tuesday.

The Latics were deducted three points in March for paying players late three previous times in the 2022-23 campaign.

More delays a couple of months ago meant further charges were brought against the club for a breach of requirements set by the English Football League.

Players have been given Saturday off from training before the team's final game of the season on Monday at home to Rotherham.

The statement added that the owners 'are working hard to ensure that this is rectified as soon as possible and apologise again for the stress this has caused'.

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COULD BE A LONG RUNNING THEME THIS OF POINTS DEDUCTIONS

Wigan Athletic will be deducted four points from the 2023/24 Sky Bet League One table after failing to pay its players’ wages on time in May 2023 and further to previous breaches of EFL Regulations.

The sanction will be applied at the start of the new league campaign with the Club also receiving an additional four-point deduction for season 2023/24, which is to be suspended until 30 June 2024.

That sanction will come into effect if the Club’s owner, Mr Abdulrahman Al Jasmi, fails to deposit an amount equal to 125% of the Club’s forecast monthly wage bill in a designated Club account, a key term of the Agreed Decision reached between the EFL and the Club in January, by Wednesday 24 May 2023.

The suspended deduction will also be activated if the Club fails to pay its players on time between now and the end of June 2024.

In addition, the Club has also had a further three points deducted from its 2022/23 Championship total for the late payment of players’ wages in March 2023 resulting in their final total being 39 points.

Mr Al Jasmi was also charged with Misconduct and fined £10,000 for failing to comply with the terms of the Agreed Decision.

Both Mr Al Jasmi and the Club have accepted the sanctions, which have been ratified by an independent Disciplinary Commission, and have agreed to pay all associated costs.

In January, the Club was charged with Misconduct after it paid its players late on three occasions in June, July and October 2022. Accordingly, it was sanctioned with a suspended three-point deduction and entered an Agreed Decision with the League.

The suspended sanction was activated in March when the Club failed to meet its contractual obligations with its players and breached the terms of the Agreed Decision when Mr Al Jasmi failed to deposit 125% of the Club’s forecast of its monthly wage bill into a designated account.

The decision by the independent Disciplinary Commission can be viewed here.

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Captain Tendayi Darikwa is one of six senior players who will leave Wigan Athletic when their current contracts expire this summer.

Defenders Steven Caulker, Joe Bennett and Ryan Nyambe and midfielders Jordan Cousins and Gwion Edwards also exit.

Darikwa, 31, played 116 games after joining from Nottingham Forest in 2021.

Edwards, 29, had 45 outings for Wigan, Bennett, 33, and Cousins, 29, played 30 games apiece, Nyambe, 25, made 33 appearances and Caulker, 31, only nine.

Wigan were relegated to League One after finishing bottom of the Championship.

Loanees Omar Rekik, Martin Kelly, Miguel Azeez, Christ Tiehi, Danel Sinani and Ashley Fletcher all return to their respective parent clubs.

Wigan also confirmed that winger James McClean will remain at the club for the 2023-24 season.

There had been speculation that the 34-year-old Republic of Ireland international could return to hometown club Derry City if he left Wigan.

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Now on -8
Wigan Athletic have been given a second four-point deduction for next season after failing to meet an English Football League funding deadline.

It means the Latics will start on minus eight points in League One for 2023-24.

Owner Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi failed to lodge the money to cover the club's next wage bill by Wednesday's deadline.

The club were handed an initial four-point deduction last week for two previous late payments, with an extra four-point penalty suspended.

In response, Wigan said they were "extremely disappointed" with the latest deduction, and will consider taking legal action.

"The football club has been very transparent with the EFL, who have had clear visibility of the eight-figure sum to finance the remainder of this season and the whole of next season," a statement said.

"The club will now consider all options open."

Mr Al Jasmi was given extra time to deposit 125% of the forecast monthly wage bill, as stipulated by the EFL's original decision, but by 09:00 BST on Friday had not done so.

The EFL said: "This follows a previous sanction of four points after failing to pay its players' wages on time in March 2023 and May 2023."

"The EFL has spent the past 48 hours in dialogue with the club in an attempt to find a positive outcome to the issue but as of 09:00 BST Friday morning the required funds have not been deposited."

In a statement issued shortly before Friday's announcement, Wigan chairman Talal al Hammad said an "eight-figure sum" will land in the club's account "imminently", to ensure "financial stability" until the end of next season.

He outlined the ownership group's future plans for the club, which include a 65% reduction in the wage bill after an "unsustainable wage budget" in their Championship relegation campaign.

Wigan were relegated last season after being given a three-point deduction for three previous failures to pay staff wages on time, and that was increased to six points following last week's judgement, after two further failures to pay their employees on time.

Al Hammad said that the five previous failures to pay wages on time were "totally unacceptable", but said the ownership group had invested £30m since taking over in 2021.

"The inflated wage bill resulted in cashflow issues which meant we could not adhere to the agreed decision with the EFL in January.

"However, everything possible was done to ensure wages were paid. Delays are a common occurrence with overseas transactions, but that is not and cannot be an excuse for late payments."

He said the club will focus on developing youth players and appoint a new chief executive and sporting director in a bid to stabilise the situation.

"We have learnt from the unsustainable wage budget of this season and consequently have developed a more sustainable strategy for the club, focused on the development of younger players, especially those that have come through the academy."

The statement ended by expressing Al-Jasmi's commitment to the club, saying: "He is fully committed to Wigan Athletic. As an ownership group and board, we recognise we have a lot of trust to rebuild and this starts again now.

"We will start next season with a points deduction and that we truly regret and apologise to all fans and stakeholders. This is a culmination of the struggles of the past season.

"We cannot change the past, but what we can do is look to the future. We recognise we must rebuild trust with you."

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Believe this when I see it lso missed the 2/6/2023 deadline to ensure they had enough capital for next season


Wigan Athletic's ownership group says a deal has been agreed to sell the League One club to "a new buyer".

The announcement comes on a dramatic day for Wigan, with two directors resigning amid growing concerns about the financial state of the club.

Wigan will start 2023-24 on minus eight points after failures to pay wages.

The new buyer has "committed to resolving all outstanding liabilities at the earliest opportunity", say the current owners.

A statement said that any deal is "subject to EFL approval".

Earlier on Sunday, directors Tom Markham and Oliver Gottmann resigned after funds "promised by the ownership group" that were due to be paid by 2 June had still not materialised.

Their statement said "with no visibility of when funds will arrive", their position was untenable.

This means of the initial board of directors put in place when the club exited administration in 2021, only chairman Talal Al Hammad remains.

Manager Shaun Maloney, who is known to be hugely concerned about the situation, was given assurances over funding by Al Hammad and Wigan's ultimate owner Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi during face-to-face talks in Bahrain last month.

With money owed to HMRC, there was a growing feeling a winding-up petition could be issued in a bid for find out whether the owners are willing to continue funding the club, with the emergence of a buyer at the last minute set to stave off that scenario.

In 2020, Wigan were put into administration by owners who refused to invest any more money into a club that, like many in the English Football League, loses money.

There were fears Wigan might go out of business again and on Friday, fans called for Wigan's current owners to sell the club.

It looks like their wish may have been granted, with "further updates" on the sale process to "follow in due course".

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It’s a 21 year old from Solihull who previously was interested in buying Morecambe this is in the category of what could possibly go wrong

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To quote the Beatles Just Another Day



Wonder if a club has ever been relegated on the first day of the season?

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His Majesty's Revenue & Customs has lodged a winding-up petition against Wigan Athletic over unpaid tax bills, with a hearing date of 26 July.

It follows the English Football League placing the Latics under a transfer embargo last week for breaching league rules on tax payment.

Wigan will begin the League One season after relegation with an eight-point deduction for late payment of salaries.

It also understood money is outstanding from last month's salary payments.

The club has said it is in the process of being sold but one of the interested parties, 21-year-old businessman Sarbjot Johal, failed to gain EFL approval for his proposed purchase of Morecambe earlier this year.

Winding-up petitions can be resolved by payment of debt or by arrangement of a payment plan with the creditor, in this case HMRC itself.

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Wigan Athletic have signed Bayern Munich defender Liam Morrison on loan for the 2023-24 League One campaign.

The Scotland Under-21 international started his career with Celtic before joining Bayern in 2019.

He has spent the past two seasons playing for the Bundesliga champions' reserve side in the German fourth tier.

"Wigan is a huge club - and you cannot downplay Wigan like it's nothing compared to Bayern," 20-year-old Morrison told the club website.

He signed a new two-year contract with Bayern earlier this year and was an unused substitute for the first team for the first time in their win over Werder Bremen last month.

"Liam is a very positive signing for us. I've known of Liam's talent for a long time back to when he was at Celtic," said Latics boss Shaun Maloney, himself a former Celtic player.

"Liam's an aggressive modern-day defender who is also very good on the ball. He will be a fantastic addition for us and I'm looking forward to helping him develop."