Wigan Athletic players take significant action as wages continue to go unpaid | OneFootball

Wigan Athletic's first-team squad have refused to attend training on Friday morning as they have still not been paid for the month of March by the club's ownership group.

That is according to Wigan Today reporter Paul Kendrick, who has said that the Latics players are staying away from Christopher Park until they have been paid what they are owed by Phoenix 2021 Limited.

Wages were meant to have been paid out in early March, but for the fourth time since June 2022, the money owed to players and staff did not arrive on time, with the owners citing 'liquidity issues' as the reasoning.

Because of yet another late payment, one which still hasn't arrived, the EFL took action and after issuing a suspended three-point deduction back in January, they have now docked those points from the club's current tally for the Championship season.

It now leaves the Latics eight points adrift of safety with eight games to play, and despite battling valiantly in recent weeks on the pitch, it appears that enough is enough when it comes to what the players have decided to tolerate.

Despite not having a match this weekend due to the international break, Wigan players will not be returning to training until they are paid by owner Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi and his consortium, with defender Steven Caulker already speaking out via LinkedIn to give his side of the story as he has labelled the actions of the powers-that-be as 'completely unacceptable'.

The Verdict

It is no surprise to see that Wigan's players have decided that enough is enough when it comes to the situation they find themselves in.

They were supposed to be paid two weeks ago yet they still find themselves without the wages they are owed, and if you don't get paid what you expect to be paid then you cannot be expected to turn up for work.

If this was just a one-off then perhaps things could be forgiven, but this is now the fourth time since Wigan were promoted back to the Championship that their ownership have been late to pay wages, but the previous times it didn't take this long for payments to go through.

You have to hope that there is some light at the end of the tunnel and that players will get paid today or in the coming days, but another date is looming - April 7 is when next month's wages are supposed to be paid as well according to Caulker so that could be another D-day for the club.