Role Of The Independent Appeal Hearing

Is there something about -25 points to do with debtors next season?

 

Fair enough. I stand corrected.

If the appeal is successful, they would still benefit from admin by paying non-football debts at 1/4, whilst we go down.

As you point out, still farcical.

 

Which application the admin or the appeal?

 

Administration. A solvent business cannot simply decide to go into administration because they don't fancy paying their future bills. They make an application to a court of law and prove they have no money.

 

Ok, so surely all he has to do is present a company with no money in the bank and upcoming bills that he says he can’t pay?
Appreciate it’s probably more complicated than that, but in principal.

 

Administrators are appointed by the court to take control of the company. They are given full access to all accounts. If there was any money the application would have been deemed fraudulent.

Forget what Wigan FC are saying. It's of no consequence. Listen to what the administrators of the business are saying (although I don't know if they've made a statement).

 

TBH, I thought it was them saying at point of going in admin no one was overdue payments.
I thought the issue was that the new owner promised a cash injection(something to do with converting a loan) but then this didn’t happen which as a result has led Wigan here.

 

The simple fact of it is that a court will not ratify an application for administration if it is not necessary and the company is solvent, it would be illegal to do so.

 

that last paragraph is what really annoys me about all this. If they win, they’ll be in the exact position that the points deduction was brought in to deter.

 

If they overturn the 12 point deduction, half the EFL will be trying it on.

 

I understand that and it’s not what i said, I asked the question if they weren’t behind they surely could have hung on for two weeks got to being able to sell some players, sell players clear debts, complete season.
Then go from there, by then they might have found a buyer, things might have improved or they could have just cut cloth accordingly to survive (if possible).
As an example We have no money in bank and have bills due over two weeks, pick phone up to person owe money, can we pay 2 weeks late etc etc.

if as Jay said you can’t then that answers that question.

 

That’s fair enough.
If Wigan were relying on a cash injection and were told it’s not happening by the owner would that then potentially make them insolvent?
Ie £20 million overdrawn, expecting a loan of £24 million that doesn’t transpire.?

 

I'm guessing that's what happened. He promised money, it wasn't forthcoming, this left the club insolvent and an application was made for administration.

Questions should be asked on whether he was a fit and proper person to take over the club and why the football league ratified a take over from a guy who had no money (or no intention to invest it), but Wigan's appeal is a nonsense. They were insolvent without a cash injection from a wealthy businessman. That he decided not to invest that money is not force majeure. They're insolvent because they spent all their money, not because someone didn't give them some more.

 

This should be the key to the whole thing.

 

PS - I personally believe any club applying for administration after loss of income due to Covid-19 could use force majeure. We were solvent, our finances were well within the rules, we were actually making a profit, but all that may be wiped away in the coming months because we couldn't sell season tickets at full price as there was no guarantee of any games and we can't admit spectators due to social distancing laws. Yet we have to honour contracts signed well before the outbreak that we had every reason to believe we could cover with realistic predictions of future income. That we may no longer be able to do so would be entirely down to a global pandemic that the club had no control over and should have expected better protection by a failing government. If that's not force majeure I have absolutely no idea what is.

 

Happens all the time. There was a consortium put together to take over Barnsley FC and cover the future losses, it didn't happen and we applied for admin. Investment is pulled from businesses across the globe hundreds of times every day.

 

maybe it’s a trap to get them to show them the betting slip

 

In general I'd say yes but I think Wigan are a special case in that the league was shut down when the owner bought the club meaning that he had knowledge of it and can't claim it was an unexpected shock to him.

Also do you have any knowledge of how the owner of the club and the club are not the same thing? By that I mean it seems wigan are appealing because they believe that the club can't possibly have known that the owner wouldn't give them money. I just don't understand that argument, at what point are Wigan and the owners not the same?