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English Premier League
SportHong Kong

Hong Kong-era over for Wigan Athletic as club agrees takeover by Bahrain-backed Phoenix 2021

  • Deal with Bahrain-backed Phoenix 2021 expected to be completed by end of the month
  • Fans furious at former owner Stanley Choi’s claims over sale that led to club being placed into administration and relegated

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Wigan Athletic have agreed a sale to new owner’s ending the Hong Kong-based ownership of the club. Photo: EPA
Jonathan White

Wigan Athletic have agreed a deal with new owners, nine months after going into administration. The deal with Bahrain-backed Phoenix 2021 Limited is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

“We have agreed a sale of the club and related assets to Phoenix 2021 Limited and we are in the process of finalising the transaction. Contracts have been exchanged, a deposit has been received and it is envisaged that the sale will be completed by 31 March 2021 at the latest,” the club said in a statement.

The news, which ends months of uncertainty over the future of the club, follows fan fury at former owner Stanley Choi’s account of his time at the English side.

Reaction to an interview with the Post earlier this month took issue with some of Choi’s claims, notably that only a small minority of Wigan fans had been critical of his tenure which ended last year with the club sold to Au Yeung Wai Kay and subsequently placed into administration.

“Not one Wigan Athletic supporter has a good word for Stanley Choi, he ditched the club and walked away,” host of the Progress With Unity Wigan Athletic fan podcast Barry Worthington told the Post.

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