(Reuters) – Wigan Athletic will be deducted four points from next season’s League One campaign after the club failed to pay player salaries this month, the English Football League (EFL) said on Friday.
A further four-point penalty has also been suspended until the end of the next season.
Wigan, who have been relegated from the second-tier Championship, were docked three points in March by the English Football League (EFL) for failing to pay salaries and were charged this season for late payments in June, July and October.
“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 June 30, 2024,” the EFL said in a statement.
“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 … by Wednesday, May 24, 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.”
Wigan spent eight seasons in the Premier League before in the 2012-13 campaign becoming the first club win the FA Cup and be relegated in the same season.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
