The administrators for English League One side Wigan Athletic have dismissed reports about them taking payment from the club as “fake news” in a media statement, amid growing fan dissatisfaction. Wigan remains without new owners almost eight months since Hong Kong-based owner Au Yeung Wai-kay walked away only weeks after taking over the EFL Championship club. Begbies Traynor were appointed as the administrators by Au in July 2020, soon after he took control of the 2013 FA Cup winners from Hong Kong-listed casino and hotel operators IEC , which had been owner since 2018. “Since our last update there has been a substantial increase in the traffic on social media, coupled with separate interviews by Paul Stanley and Gerald Krasner [of Begbies Traynor] on Talk Sport,” they said in a statement posted on the club website on Friday. “Unfortunately, there has been a lot of misreporting and understanding of the situation which has led to fake news being circulated. We would remind staff and fans that because an item appears on social media it does not make it true, especially where anonymous sources are quoted. We hope here to put the record straight.” The interviews with Stanley and Krasner on UK radio station Talk Sport caused a stir, particularly when Stanley appeared to insult the intelligence of Wigan fans. Finger-pointing, the Philippines and EFL – what happened at Wigan? Last Wednesday, Stanley told Talk Sport of “the daily scrutiny from people who actually aren’t that educated, but seem to have the biggest opinions”, for which he later apologised to Wigan Today . “When I say education, I mean specific education in this process, not education as in going to grammar school,” he told the newspaper. “I meant that some people are uninformed about what’s going on, they don’t have the knowledge about the process. Fans have also been critical of the administrators over their fees, which have reached £1.3 million (US$1.78 million) and are expected to hit £1.9 million by the end of the process. Stanley defended the fees in his radio interview. Further fan ire came in response to some reports that the fees have already been paid. The statement denied that. “At the beginning of the week we filed our progress report to 31 December at Companies House. Included in this report is a section on time costs and remuneration, together with an estimate of future time,” it read. Football club ownership riddled with funny business “Unfortunately, parts of the media and some fans looked at the report and took these figures out of context without reading all of the relevant information. Had they done so they would see that none of the administrators’ fees will be paid by the football club. “In July 2020 when the deal was done with Mr Yeung and his advisers it was agreed that he would not claim a dividend from the football club on his £25 million claim. This reduced the creditors from £30 million to £5 million on which a 25p dividend would have to be paid to save a further points deduction. “In addition, the administrators’ fees and disbursements would be paid from his property companies. If there are insufficient funds in these companies to pay them then the balance would be written off and not charged to the football club. “As of 31st December no fees on account have been drawn from any of the companies. At no time has any bidder been told that they have to pay any of the administrators’ fees.” The club, who were relegated to the third tier of English football last season after being automatically deducted 12 points for going into administration, has been unable to find a buyer. Begbies Traynor spoke of the most recent failed bid, from potential buyers in Spain, that fell apart this month. Wigan Athletic lose appeal after Hong Kong-owned administration Buyers need to prove they have £7 million – £3 million for the club and £4 million to “convince the EFL that there are sufficient funds to run the club until June 2022”, the statement said, claiming that there are 14 interested parties. Wigan could face another points deduction if the new owners’ bid does not allow for 25p in the pound to be paid to creditors. The side, who drew 0-0 with Fleetwood Town on Saturday, sit 22nd on the 24-team table and face relegation to the English fourth tier. “We are not about to wind-up this club,” Krasner told Talk Sport. “We will find a buyer, given a reasonable timescale going forward.”