The outcome of an EFL charge against Morecambe is set to be decided next month.
The club and its owner, Jason Whittingham, were accused of violating the provisions of an Agreed Decision last year.
The Shrimps faced misconduct charges for not adhering to Regulation 64.7, which stipulates that “The terms of a Standard Contract between a Club and a Player shall be strictly adhered to,” after last March’s salaries were not paid on time.
The team acknowledged the violation and consented to an Agreed Decision that included additional sanctions in addition to EFL and ratification fees.
That was a suspended three-point deduction for the 2023/2024 season, to expire on June 30, 2024 if it wasn’t activated.
However, it would become active if there was a failure to pay players on time before that date or if the club’s owner failed to deposit an amount equal to 125 per cent of the forecast monthly wage bill – gross/before tax deductions – in a designated club bank account for calling upon by the club in the event of any future delays in processing of overseas payments.
There were also obligations around reporting on the operation of the account, as well as a duty to maintain it at appropriate levels and a time limit of June 30, 2024 for its operation – provided there was no call on the amounts during that period.
The EFL said that any failure to do so would breach the Agreed Decision, trigger the suspended sanction and may result in misconduct charges against Whittingham.
Confirming the charges at the time, the EFL said: “In August, funds were deposited in line with the agreement for a previous failure to pay the club’s wage bill, however on September 4, those funds were used and Whittingham failed to redeposit the amount, despite requests from the League.
“Mr Whittingham’s failure to redeposit the funds has led to personal charges, while the club has also been charged for failing to meet deposit account requirements.
“The charges will now be considered by an independent Disciplinary Commission with the outcome to be communicated by the EFL once a decision is reached.”
Ben Sadler, the club CEO, gave supporters an update on the most recent position at last Friday’s fans’ forum.
“We got charged by the EFL in November with breaching the Agreed Decision when we didn’t pay wages earlier in the season,” he said to the people in attendance.
I’ve spent a lot of time working with legals on the case that’s being presented because our position is that we haven’t violated it and theirs is that we have.
“I’ll be spending a few days making our case in this ongoing matter, which is scheduled for resolution in the middle of March.”
“We firmly believe in our case, and we have done and will continue to do our best.
We have presented a compelling argument, one that I believe is very solid, as to why that shouldn’t result in any kind of penalty or point reduction.
“We understand how crucial it is to hold onto every point we score.”
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