Wigan deducted three points for failing to pay players on time again
Wigan Athletic have been hit with a three-point deduction after failing to pay player salaries on time in March.
The news is a fresh blow to the embattled Championship club’s hopes of avoiding relegation, with the deduction leaving them eight points adrift of safety with eight games to play.
Wigan were given a suspended three-point deduction in January after failing to pay player wages on time on three occasions last year.
But a failure to pay salaries as expected for a fourth time since the club won promotion back to the Championship last season has led to the points deduction being automatically triggered with immediate effect.
In a further breach of an agreement the club struck with the EFL in January, the Wigan owner, Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi, has failed to deposit an amount equal to 125 per cent of the club’s forecast monthly wage bill in a designated club account.
As a result of this breach and the latest non-payment of player wages, the EFL has issued Wigan with new charges. Al-Jasmi, a Bahraini businessman whose Phoenix 2021 Ltd group have owned Wigan since March 2021, has also been charged with misconduct, with the matter due to be referred to an independent disciplinary commission.
Wigan said they noted the EFL statement and charge and “will issue a further update on the current wage situation in due course”.
In a statement, the EFL said: “Wigan Athletic has, with immediate effect, been deducted three points from the 2022/23 Championship table after the club failed to pay player salaries again in March 2023.
“The Club had previously been charged and sanctioned for failing to adhere to the terms of the standard contracts that were in force between the club and its players in the months of June 2022, July 2022 and October 2022.
“This latest infringement by the club to meet its obligations means the terms of the agreed decision the club entered into with the EFL in January 2023 has been breached and the application of the suspended sporting sanction has been automatically triggered.”
Wages due in June last year were paid three days late due to a delay in receipt of payment by the club following a misunderstanding of the impact of the Jubilee Bank Holiday on bank transfers, according to those familiar with the matter.
The following month’s wages were also paid three days late due, it is understood, to issues with the security authentication procedures for the club’s owner.
Last October’s wages were paid three days late due to a delay in the receipt by the club of a payment processed by the owner on October 20, sources said.
