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WANDER OFF

Bolton will NOT complete Championship fixtures as Brentford handed 1-0 win and three points

Cash-strapped club are over £41million in debt and cannot pay their players' wages

BOLTON will not complete their Championship fixtures after their game with Brentford was axed.

The cash-strapped club, who SunSport revealed are £41.6million in the red, are unable to pay their players' wages or safely police home games.

 Bolton are unable to play home matches due to safety concerns over staffing and policing
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Bolton are unable to play home matches due to safety concerns over staffing and policingCredit: Getty Images - Getty

And their rearranged fixture - set to take place two days after the final game of the season - is no longer going ahead.

An EFL statement said: "Following the decision taken by Bolton Wanderers’ Safety Advisory Group (SAG) to issue a Prohibition Notice preventing Tuesday’s rearranged Sky Bet Championship fixture with Brentford from taking place, the EFL will not be asking that the game is played at a future date.

"There is no provision under EFL Regulations to direct Clubs to play at a later date than four days past the conclusion of the season and, as a result, it has been determined that Brentford will be awarded the three points on the basis of  a 1-0 victory.

"As a consequence, Bolton Wanderers is now deemed to be guilty of misconduct by the EFL which will result in disciplinary proceedings against the Club being taken at an appropriate time.

"The decision to award the victory to Brentford is taken under Regulation 33.2 and is independent of the proceedings referred to above.";

Bolton will play against Nottingham Forest this weekend after the PFA stepped in to help with the wage issues.

The squad went on strike after backdated payments were not forthcoming - causing their game against the Bees to be abandoned.

Former Watford owner Laurence Bassini today rejected the club's statement insisting that his takeover bid had been scrapped.

The businessman claimed he had provided proof of funds to the EFL, who said otherwise when contacted by The Bolton News.

EFL chiefs have claimed the only way Bolton would get away with not fulfilling their matches would be to go into administration, a development which is expected to happen this week.

 

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