Wigan Athletic 'board and staff restructure' on way after wages finally paid

The last of the unpaid players finally received their money on Tuesday morning - two and a half weeks late..

And chairman Talal Al Hammad outlined his future plans to ensure the situation will never be repeated.

"I firstly want to apologise again to all staff, players, fans and wider stakeholders for the stress this delay has caused," he said.

"As an ownership group we have invested well in excess of £20m since we came on board in 2021.

"Clearly mistakes have been made and this investment has not been spent in the right areas meaning finances this season have been difficult to sustain.

"This latest payment will ensure our wage obligations are secured until we finalise a sustainable budget for next season.

"There will also shortly be announcements made regarding board and staff re-structures which will help us deliver this.

"I finally again want to reassure all Wigan Athletic staff, players and fans that Mr. Al Jasmi and I are fully committed to the club with manager Shaun Maloney at the helm."

Wigan Today understands there could well be a few familiar faces stepping into prominent roles in the rebuild.

Those include Academy chief Gregor Rioch, who will be moving up to a more influential role in the first-team set-up.

The EFL are aware of the situation, having last week written to the club for its observations on the latest failure to pay the staff on time.

Latics say the governing body has been given evidence of the funds that will 'secure the immediate future of the club'.

"The ownership group, Phoenix 2021 Limited, has committed a substantial seven figure sum to Wigan Athletic to secure the immediate future of the club," read a statement.

"The EFL has visibility of this amount.

"Phoenix 2021 Limited under the ownership of Mr Abdulrahman Al Jasmi and Wigan Athletic FC chairman Talal Al Hammad insist they are fully committed to the club.

"The club will make no further comment at this stage."

The news was met with relief from the Supporters Club, who called for 'evidence and reassurances' regarding the future.

"We are relieved at this news," they tweeted. "But will continue to push for evidence and reassurances to be made available to all fans, that next steps are in place to secure the medium and longer term future of the club."