Wigan become first English club to enter administration amid coronavirus pandemic

Seven years after Wigan Athletic made history by becoming the first club to win the FA Cup and suffer relegation from the English top flight the same season, Wigan became the first professional English side to enter into administration amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

As noted by Sky Sports, the English Football League will hand Wigan a 12-point reduction under rules that mandate such a punishment upon any insolvency event. 

Wigan sat 14th in the Championship table on the first day of the month, but a 12-point penalty would've dropped them to the bottom of the league. Instead, the points reduction won't occur until after the campaign. 

If Wigan are outside of the bottom three after 46 domestic match days, the penalty applies for this season. They'll receive the points fine for the 2020-21 campaign if they fall to the third tier of English football. 

Per BBC Sport, expected funds from recently appointed owners Next Leader Fund, a Hong Kong-based firm, never arrived as scheduled amid the uncontrolled virus outbreak. 

BBC's Simon Stone added more clubs may endure a similar fate during these uncertain times. 

As Stone pointed out, Premier League clubs can afford to play behind closed doors and without spectators due to massive national and international media-rights deals. That's not the case for those in the lower leagues: 

"As you go down the pyramid, the TV income reduces massively. Can League One, League Two and the National Leagues really play to no fans? These are all full-time clubs, many of whom used the government's furlough scheme to shield themselves.

"But that option will not exist shortly. Wigan may not be alone."

It's not yet known when supporters will be permitted to return to English venues. Leicester City nearly lost a July 4 home fixture versus Crystal Palace because of a newly imposed local lockdown. 

That, like all Premier League games this summer, will occur without fans inside the stadium.