His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs has lodged a winding-up petition against Wigan Athletic over unpaid tax bills, with a hearing date of 26 July.

Wigan will begin the League One season after relegation with an eight-point deduction for late payment of salaries.

It also understood money is outstanding from last month’s salary payments.

The club has said it is in the process of being sold but one of the interested parties, 21-year-old businessman Sarbjot Johal, failed to gain EFL approval for his proposed purchase of Morecambe earlier this year.

Winding-up petitions can be resolved by payment of debt or by arrangement of a payment plan with the creditor, in this case HMRC itself.