EXCLUSIVE: A row over payments to departed players is holding up Bolton's takeover - and plunging the club's future into further doubt. The club have been given a deadline of 5pm TODAY.

EXCLUSIVE: The future of Bolton Wanderers is close to being secured - thanks to a £2m loan from the Professional Footballers' Association. The club have been in administration since May 13.

Bolton's players have finally been paid up to five months of overdue wages after the League One side went into administration back in May.

DANIEL MATTHEWS AT ADAMS PARK: Bolton's matchday squad was a ragtag bunch and for almost an hour they threatened to add yet more farce to the occasion.

DANIEL MATTHEWS AT ADAMS PARK: Geoff has been watching Bolton Wanderers for 50 years. On Saturday he's at Adams Park with Pete, who is closing in on his own half-century.

The Trotters pulled the plug on their fixture at just 24 hours' notice due to welfare concerns for their young squad, who have been thrust into senior action amid the off-field problems at the club.

Bolton Wanderers will officially begin liquidation this week after a deal to sell the football club dramatically collapsed, leaving the former Premier League side in a perilous position.

Bolton are now facing extinction unless a deal to buy the club which collapsed can be dramatically resurrected. Sportsmail answers all the questions surrounding Bolton's future.

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when Bolton Wanderers offered sublime evidence that every modest town had the right to a seat at football's top table.

Bolton, one of the founding members of the Football League, are in a desperate fight to survive with the club hurtling towards liquidation if a deal to buy it cannot be revived.

Staff at Bolton have been told that plans to liquidate the League One club 'have been put on hold'. A memo was sent to club staff on Wednesday hours after the EFL served Bolton a 14-day notice.

The family of tragic Premier League footballer Jlloyd Samuel have made the extraordinary claim that his wife 'faked' his death in a car crash to cash in on an insurance fraud.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY CHRIS WHEELER: Wanderers had been saved but another battle was beginning. They had started the season with a 12-point deduction and just six senior players.

Republic of Ireland international Daryl Murphy has admitted to taking cocaine on a night out that led to him being banned by the Football Association.

Justin Gatlin does not care that Usain Bolt laughs at the challenge he is mounting for 100 metres supremacy this summer.

Jamaican sensation Usain Bolt crushed the competition in Sunday's 100m race, leaving American Justin Gatlin with the country's only medal for the historic race.

Tyson Gay has admitted he will have to suppress any animosity he feels towards drug cheat Justin Gatlin for the benefit of the US 4x100m relay team.

US sprinter Justin Gatlin has vowed to challenge Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake this year, as he prepares to come up against Bolt over 100 metres in Rome on Thursday night.

Usain Bolt suffered a rare 100 metres defeat when he was beaten by drugs cheat Justin Gatlin in Rome. The Olympic champion said he stumbled after making the ‘perfect start’ and could not catch Gatlin, who won bronze behind Bolt in the 100m in London.

The 26-year-old Jamaican came second in a 100m sprint in Rome yesterday, beaten by American Justin Gatlin, 31, who came in at 9.94 seconds compared to Bolt's 9.95.

Usain Bolt didn't seem too bothered by his shock defeat in Rome on Friday night as he was spotted enjoying the French Open men's singles final on Sunday between Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer.

Justin Gatlin remained unbeaten this season by winning the 100 metres at the Golden Spike meet on Tuesday, clocking 9.86 seconds to improve his own world-leading time of the year.

One former drugs cheat, Justin Gatlin, ran the quickest 100m time in the world this year on Thursday night, while another, Tyson Gay, made his comeback with 9.93secs in second place.

On Thursday night in Lausanne, Switzerland, three sprinters broke the 10-second barrier for the 100 metres: Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Mike Rodgers. Gatlin’s 9.80secs was the quickest time in the world this year.

American drug cheat Justin Gatlin won the 100m in Brussels on Friday evening with a years best time of 9.77s, amid controversy that the twice-banned sprinter shouldn't even be allowed to compete.

American sprinter Justin Gatlin finished the season undefeated in all of his 18 races with a 9.83 seconds 100 metre win at the IAAF world challenge meeting in Rieti on Sunday.

Research undertaken at the University of Oslo shows that dope cheats such as Justin Gatlin could still be benefiting from taking banned substances years after initial usage.

Sebastian Coe has questioned the nomination of former drugs cheat Justin Gatlin as one of the IAAF's athletes of the year after the new research in to long-lasting effects of steroids.

Despite being undefeated in the 100 and 200 metres this season, Justin Gatlin has failed to make the three-man shortlist for the IAAF 2014 World Athlete of the Year, following a two-week voting process.

Former Olympic champion and convicted drugs cheat Justin Gatlin has been handed a new sponsorship deal by Nike, sparking outrage in the Athletics world.

By giving a new sportswear deal to twice-convicted drugs cheat Justin Gatlin, Nike is legitimising the taking of performance-enhancing drugs in sport by making a cheat look cool.

Athletics fans should lay off two-time drugs cheat Justin Gatlin and direct their ire at the sport’s governing body instead, according to former Olympic Champion Michael Johnson.

Justin Gatlin sent a message to Usain Bolt on Friday - both with his legs and his mouth. Gatlin lived up to the pre-season hype by winning the 100m in a world-leading 9.74 seconds in Doha.

Sprinter Justin Gatlin ran into a new row on Tuesday when he flew home on the eve of the Beijing World Challenge, claiming organisers told him they did not want him competing.

Organisers of the Beijing World Challenge have denied that they kicked out Justin Gatlin from their meeting and said they were 'perplexed' by the controversial sprinter's claim.

MARTIN SAMUEL: The world’s top sprinter this year is Justin Gatlin, on his shoulder is Tyson Gay. Both are tainted by drugs and UK Athletics would not issue invitations to either man for an event.

Justin Gatlin added the year's fastest 200m time to his resume at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting.  Gatlin equalled his lifetime best with his run of 19.68 seconds

Justin Gatlin insisted he was not thinking about beating Usain Bolt to gold at the World Championships later this year after another stunning win in the 100 metres.

Usain Bolt has rubbished reports that he is afraid to face Justin Gatlin. Bolt has had an injury-ravaged season and the pair are yet to meet in 2015 but Bolt is gunning for Gatlin at World Championships

MARTHA KELNER: Justin Gatlin can produce a nightmare scenario for advocates of clean sport by breaking Usain Bolt’s 100metres world record this summer, according to ex-sprinter John Regis.

Controversial Justin Gatlin set the stage for a world championship showdown with Usain Bolt when he won the 200 metres in a blazing 19.57 seconds at the U.S. trials in Oregon on Sunday

The credibility of Alberto Salazar’s defence against doping allegations has been further undermined by an interview he gave about a controversial incident involving Justin Gatlin in 2006.

Justin Gatlin easily beat two big-name rivals by clocking 9.75 seconds in the 100 metres at the Athletissima Diamond League race on Thursday.

Switzerland is renowned for being neutral but the country nailed its colours to the mast where drug cheats are concerned by hosting the dirtiest Diamond League race this century.

Next month’s World Championships men’s 100m final is in danger of rivalling the 1988 Olympic final in Seoul as the ‘Dirtiest Race in History’.

Justin Gatlin could win world championships and go undefeated for a second consecutive season but he would still not be ineligible for the sport's athlete of the year award.

Justin Gatlin accused British Athletics of hypocrisy after they refused to invite him to compete in the London Anniversary Games, despite paying other drugs cheats to appear.

American sprinter Justin Gatlin continued his fine form by clocking 9.78 to win the 100 metres at the Herculis Diamond League meet on Friday.

Usain Bolt blew away any fears about his fitness and fired a major warning to Justin Gatlin as he blasted to his fastest 100 metres of the year on his return to the Olympic Stadium on Friday night.

MARTHA KELNER AT THE OLYMPIC STADIUM: Usain Bolt allayed any concerns over his fitness, twice running 100m in 9.87 seconds at the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games.