THE spotlight is once again being shone on the EFL’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test after Wigan were plunged into administration.

Widely criticised as inadequate following the Shakers’ expulsion from the Football League last August, questions are again being asked on the checks being made on those taking over clubs.

Au Yeung’s Next Leader Fund took formal control of Wigan on June 4 and just 20 days later his legal representatives in the UK set in motion the process to appoint administrators, which was confirmed last week.

Back in November a House of Commons inquiry looking at football governance following Bury’s demise urged for the fit and proper persons’ test to be overhauled.

Now that is firmly back on the agenda with the crisis at the DW Stadium.

“The need to change the direction of travel in the Football League is absolutely critical,” former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan told talkSPORT.

“The piece de resistance is their failure and complete and utter degradation of duty to understand what a fit and proper persons’ test should look like.

“I put the blame for this at the door of the EFL. For the love of God, you let this happen to Bury, you let it happen to Bolton and you’ve been complicit in allowing this to happen to Wigan.”

Jordan suggested a system where bonds of £5million or £10m are lodged with the league by prospective buyers of clubs, a sum which is returned on any future sale.

In a lengthy statement addressing the issues around Wigan, the EFL insisted the Shakers’ financial meltdown had sharpened the focus on tightening their regulations.  “The EFL is aware of the public frustrations felt in respect to the current Owners’ and Directors’ Test and acknowledges that there is a requirement for improvement,” it read.

“It is clear that the appetite has been strengthened by the circumstances that led to the withdrawal of Bury FC from the league, and the lessons learned from the review into the conditions that led the club to that position.”