Former FA Cup winners will start League One with a four-point penalty that could increase to eight points.
Wigan Athletic, a former FA Cup champion, could not agree more when it comes to the proverb that life comes at you quickly.
2013 saw the team, led by Roberto Martinez and club owner Dave Whelan, shock English football by upsetting Manchester City at Wembley, with substitute Ben Watson scoring the game-winning goal in stoppage time.
Wigan has received a four-point deduction for unpaid salary that might rise to eight points and has been dropped to League One in just ten years.
Shaun Maloney’s squad concluded the 2022–23 season with 39 points, according to BBC Sport, despite only winning 10 games, drawing 15 games, and losing 21.
By the start of the 2023–24 season, Wigan’s first team might not even resemble what it does now due to the club’s persistent problem with unpaid salaries.
The EFL released a statement that said, “Wigan Athletic will lose four points from the 2023–24 Sky Bet League One standings after failing to pay its players’ wages on time in May 2023 and further to prior breaches of EFL Regulations.”
“The penalty will be implemented at the beginning of the new league season, and the Club will also suffer an additional four-point deduction for the 2023–24 season, which will be postponed until June 30, 2024.
The key provision of the Agreed Decision reached between the EFL and the Club in January will take effect if the Club’s owner, Mr. Abdulrahman Al Jasmi, does not deposit an amount equal to 125% of the Club’s anticipated monthly wage bill in a designated Club account by Wednesday, May 24, 2023.
The suspended deduction will also take effect if the Club fails to make timely payments to its players between now and June 30, 2024.
The Club’s ultimate score in the 2022–23 Championship was 39 points after an additional three points were taken away for the late payment of players’ wages in March 2023.
In addition, Mr. Al Jasmi was charged with misconduct and given a £10,000 punishment for breaking the terms of the agreed-upon decision.
Both Mr. Al Jasmi and the Club have consented to pay the costs related with the sanctions, which have been approved by an impartial Disciplinary Commission.
‘The Club was charged with misconduct in January after making three late payments to its players in the months of June, July, and October 2022. As a result, it received a three-point deduction that was postponed and entered into an Agreed Decision with the League.
When Mr. Al Jasmi neglected to pay 125% of the Club’s anticipated monthly salary bill into a designated account, the Club violated the conditions of the Agreed Decision and the suspended sanction was activated in March.
Similar to a number of other teams in recent years, Wigan appears to have been treated like a toy by its owners who don’t seem to care what the club means to the community, the staff, or the players.
Since the team will almost certainly need to release players to cut down on the payroll expense in any case, it can be assumed that they won’t be able to move up the divisions very quickly.
In fact, it seems more than possible that Wigan will descend even worse, as other cities have done before them.
It appears to be another instance of the EFL failing to look into dishonest owners seriously.
Football team owners who, in all honesty, should be ashamed of themselves and have no business doing so.
