Wigan staff make stand after not being paid
Wigan players were absent from training on Friday after not receiving their wages on time for the fourth time this season.
It is understood that training was ‘pushed back to Monday’ with a collective decision made by players and coach Shaun Maloney. The players are apparently not in the right mental state following the late payment of wages.
The Sky Bet Championship’s bottom club have not paid players or staff on time on four occasions this season, which has already resulted in a three-point deduction by the EFL for breaching an agreementtheclubhadwiththegoverning body in January, where they accepted a suspended penalty.
The Latics are currently eight points from safety in the Championshipwithonlyeight games left to play. Wigan have continued to play and train despite the disruptive off-pitch news throughout the season, butbothplayersandcoachcollectively took the decision not to train.
A Wigan spokesperson said: “We are still waiting on the players’ wages and that’s no secret.
“Naturally from a coach’s point of view it’s the correct decision and the training session has been pushed back to Monday. The players are not going to be in the right mental state, given they are still waiting on wages.
“Thesessionhasbeenpostponed given the difficulties over the last week and from a mentality point of view, it is the right decision. It was the coach’s decision and clearly the players are not in the right frame of mind. If there was a gameonSaturday,wouldtraininghavebeencalledoff?Probablynot.Wearehopingtodaywe might have a bit more clarity.”