Wigan players paid overdue wages, says club chairman

Wigan Athletic footballers have been paid their overdue wages, the club's chairmen said on Friday, four days after the Championship side were docked three points by the English Football League (EFL) for failing to pay their players.

The open letter signed by club chairman Talal Al Hammad also announced the departure of chief executive Malachy Brannigan on Friday.

"I can now confirm our players wages have been paid," Al Hammad said. "I can only apologise for the delay and the stress it's caused the players and staff involved as well as you, the fans and wider stakeholders.

"This issue has now been resolved and I can assure you that the late payment of wages will not happen again. It simply cannot happen again," he added.

Wigan players who issued a statement hours earlier said that wages were two weeks overdue and that it was not the first time this had happened.

Centre-back Steven Caulker also denounced in a post on LinkedIn the "absolutely outrageous" lies the club has told the players, adding that they are unable to guarantee whether they will have sufficient funds to pay in April.

"There may be reasons for late payments once or twice, but for the boys to have suffered this four times this season is completely unacceptable,"

Wigan are in danger of dropping to third-tier League One as they are at the bottom of the Championship standings with 31 points.