Wigan Athletic 'not up for sale' despite speculation over club's financial situation

Wigan Athletic won the League One title last season to win promotion back to the Championship after two seasons away

Wigan Athletic chief executive Malachy Brannigan says the club is not up for sale amid speculation over the Latics' financial situation.

The statement comes after the club were late paying players' salaries, the second time this has happened in 2022.

Brannigan said the delay was due to a "banking process" which took longer than the club had expected.

"Funding has never been the reason for any previous delay, and this is still the position," he said.

"We are aware of what needs to be done to make sure a late payment situation doesn't happen again under our tenure, especially as they have recently been as a consequence of a banking process that took much longer than it should have done, once the funds were in the system."

Bahraini businessman Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi led a takeover of the Latics in 2021, with the club then in financial difficulty having gone into administration during the summer of 2020.

That takeover ended financial uncertainty around the club's future, however wages were first paid late earlier this year, which the club had put down to issues around the Queen's platinum jubilee.

Brannigan's statement comes a day after boss Leam Richardson agreed a new three-year deal with the club, having met with the club's chairman Talal al Hammad in Bahrain.

Despite late payments, Brannigan insisted that the club was not for sale but said that the owners had been contacted by potential buyers.

"Speculation over clubs being for sale is always rife, and while some potential purchasers have approached the ownership group on a number of occasions since its acquisition of Wigan Athletic in March 2021, no approaches have ever been entertained," Brannigan added.

"It is only natural that the club would attract interest given the positive journey it has been on in the last 19 months, but we remain committed in returning the club to where we believe it belongs in the football pyramid."