Wigan Athletic given second four-point deduction after missing funding deadline

Wigan finished bottom of the Championship this season

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."