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Wigan’s administrators agree to the sale of a club that could secure its future football

Wigan Athletic administrators have announced that, in principle, they have agreed to sell the club to a preferred bidder who they hope will secure their future.

Administrators Gerald Krasner and Paul Stanley of the bankruptcy trustees Begbies Traynor said the preferred bidders could not be named due to a confidentiality agreement, but the offer was the highest of five that they had received.

Krasner said the offer for the club, DW Stadium, and two training grounds would fully pay all players and other “footballers” and £ 1.5m, which is a quarter of the £ 6m that the club ” Don’t owe. Football believer. “This total of £ 6m owed to unsecured non-football creditors is separate from a £ 24m to £ 25m loan owed to the Hong Kong-based owner of the club, Au Yeung. Krasner hopes he won’t pay back at all. Investigations into the circumstances of the club’s sudden collapse into administration continue, he said, and Au Yeung has agreed to interview Hong Kong Zoom this month.

Au Yeung put Wigan in charge on July 1, just a week after taking total control of the club, which he shared with Stanley Choi, chairman of the previous owner of the International Entertainment Corporation, on June 4 for 17.5 Had bought GBP million. IEC, a Cayman Islands listed company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that operates a hotel casino in Manila, owned Wigan for 19 months after it bought the club from previous owner Dave Whelan for £ 15.9m in November 2018.

When the sale to Choi and Au Yeung was completed, the IEC announced that £ 24million they had invested in the club to cover the wages and losses of the players who had been converted into a loan had been fully repaid were. Au Yeung was believed to have repaid it by replacing this loan with a £ 24m loan that the club would still owe. Krasner said that the club owes £ 24m to £ 25m “at first glance”, but the administrators are still considering who exactly it is owed. Krasner said the £ 6m exclusion of this loan owed to unsecured creditors: “We are working on a plan not to pay him.”

Wigan’s appeal against the 12-point deduction, which is automatically imposed when clubs go bankrupt, is due to be heard on July 31. The club is expected to argue that due to the exceptional circumstances of force majeure, the Covid 19 pandemic should not be shut down. Krasner said hope to stay in the championship is vital to the club’s finances, as clubs receive £ 6m more in TV and solidarity payments from the Premier League compared to Premier League clubs. If Wigan stays up against Fulham on Wednesday, Krasner will drop the appeal.

He described the rules of the EFL regarding the appeal as unfair, according to which an association must bear both its and the costs of the EFL, which in Wigan’s case are estimated at a total of GBP 500,000, even if this is successful and the 12-point Punishment is lifted:

“For football fans everywhere, your football club could one day deal with it,” said Krasner. “The rules of natural justice tell me that this is not correct. I don’t blame the Football League; These rules have been approved by the club soccer leaders in all divisions, and it’s time to review the whole situation to ensure a fairer process. “

The reason for the rule is that even if a penalty is lifted, the club is still in bankruptcy and does not pay its debts in full, so the EFL – ultimately the other clubs in the league – is not willing to do so pay legal costs of a complaint.

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