Cobblers' league one rivals Wigan hit with second points deduction

The EFL has ruled that the Latics will start the 2023/24 season on minus eight points after they failed to meet a funding deadline.

The reason being that Wigan owner Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi failed to lodge the money to cover the club's next wage bill. The original deadline was Wednesday, which was then extended to Friday morning.

The north west club had initially been hit with a four-point deduction last week for two previous late payments, with an extra four-point penalty suspended.

The failure to meet this week's deadline means they have now been hit with the extra punishment.

An EFL statement read: "Following the failure to ensure that an amount equal to 125% of the club’s forecast monthly wage bill was deposited in a designated club account by Wednesday, May 24, as per the order of an Independent Disciplinary Commission, Wigan Athletic Football Club has been deducted a further four points and will now start the 2023/24 season on minus eight points (-8).

"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."

Wigan have issued a statement saying they are 'extremely disappointed' with the latest points deduction, and are considering taking legal action against the EFL.

"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."

Wigan were relegated from the Sky Bet Championship 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.