Oldham manager Lee Johnson says it will be a "board decision" if the club opts to sign convicted rapist Ched Evans.
Johnson's comments were the first to be made in public by any club employee since news emerged on Sunday that the League One club could be about to offer the 26-year-old a deal.
An online petition against the signing has already attracted more than 20,000 signatures and club sponsors have already expressed their opposition to the move, with one saying it would be "out of the door" if Evans signs.
Speaking outside Boundary Park, Johnson said: "I understand these are very difficult circumstances. I respect that for everyone. It's a board decision."
Asked if the board had decided against signing Evans now, Johnson added: "I don't want to comment. Whatever the board decides I will be a part of."
The BBC reported that the League One club's board were meeting in the wake of a huge public backlash against a possible return to football for Evans.
There were no sightings of Evans at Oldham's Boundary Park ground on Monday, after it emerged they were the unnamed club referred to by Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor, who had said a club would be holding a press conference on Monday to announce his signing.
Chief executive Neil Joy read a statement outside the club's Boundary Park ground in which he said the club would "continue to have conversations" with the Professional Footballers' Association and "conduct due diligence" on the potential signing of Evans.
He also said that Oldham were "not at this stage making any official announcement with regard to the speculation concerning Ched Evans.
"Whilst acknowledging the considerable media attention, we continue to have conversations with representative bodies such as the PFA and will conduct due diligence with regard to any decision we make on this matter.
"Although it has been reported that a press conference would be held we will officially advise if and when any such event will take place.
"The club would also request that its stakeholders and partners position and privacy be respected until this matter has been concluded."
Evans wants to return to football after being released from prison in October.
He served two and a half years of a five-year sentence after being found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman in 2011 but continues to protest his innocence. Oldham were not available for comment.
Oldham will "send out entirely the wrong message" if they sign convicted rapist Ched Evans, according to Tony Lloyd, Greater Manchester's Police and Crime Commissioner.
In a statement on the gmpcc.org.uk website, Lloyd said: "Oldham Athletic Football Club should not sign Ched Evans.
"Ched Evans is a convicted rapist and, whilst I strongly believe in the principle of rehabilitation, it will send out entirely the wrong message if they offer him a contract.
"All offenders have the right to rebuild their lives and make amends after they have served their sentence, but Ched Evans' lack of remorse and failure to acknowledge his offence means it is simply inappropriate for him to be on a Greater Manchester football pitch week in and week out presenting himself as some kind of role model, especially to young people."
One of Oldham's main sponsors has said it will be "out of the door" if the club signed Evans.
Craig Verling, a director of Verlin Rainwater Solutions, which sponsors a stand at Boundary Park, said the company would terminate its involvement with the Latics if Evans joined.
Another Oldham sponsor, Web Applications UK, said it would continue to support the club irrespective of its decision over Evans.
The company's chief executive, Craig Dean, said he believed it would be "unethical" to seek to influence the situation in either direction.
Meanwhile, Rick Holden, who was a part of one of Oldham's greatest ever sides in 1990, when the club reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the final of the League Cup, said he was not welcoming the links with Evans.
"I'm not comfortable with it at all, it's one of those crimes that will never go away in my opinion," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"I don't see how the chap can survive actually, given the ferocity of football up and down the land, even if he did sign. I think it's untenable."
Evans had an offer to train with former club Sheffield United retracted in November following strong local opposition, while Tranmere and Hartlepool also rejected the opportunity to sign the 26-year-old striker.
He was initially given permission by the Blades to return to train with the club at the request of the PFA. But following a backlash from Blades supporters, sponsors and patrons opposed to Evans' return - 160,000 people signed a petition against it - the club retracted the offer.
"I'm not comfortable with it at all, it's one of those crimes that will never go away in my opinion" - Rick Holden
Broadcaster Charlie Webster stood down from her role as a club patron of Sheffield United in the wake of their links to Evans.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Monday, she said of Oldham owner Simon Corney: "Isn't the brand of his football club important? Isn't the community of his football club important? When Sheffield United had the petition, I think it was a ridiculous amount, 160,000 people that stood up.
"(I) stood up, Jessica Ennis stood up, very many patrons stood up, society stood up and said 'no' and they listened and he didn't get re-signed for Sheffield United. I'm hoping that Oldham will listen as well and Oldham will understand that this is a greater issue than just Ched Evans, it's about sexual abuse."
PFA chief Taylor said the players' union had not asked any club to sign Evans but would support them doing so.
Any move to sign Evans is likely to lead to public outcry, but Taylor is keen to avoid a similar situation to the one that engulfed Sheffield United after they made their offer to the player.
"I don't want to create a replica-type situation that we had at Sheffield (United) because I'm a little bit concerned that we need a press conference and that will invite, of course, many antagonists," he said.
Taylor said the PFA appreciated the situation was "very sensitive", but reiterated its stance that Evans deserved the chance to resume his career following his release from prison.
"We've made it clear in our statements that we feel he's been unable to say much because of the appeals process, but he has served his time and the job of society is to look to rehabilitate," Taylor said.
On Friday Maltese side Hibernians revealed that they had made a contract offer to Evans for the remainder of the season, although the BBC quoted a spokesman for Evans denying the player received such an offer.
However, any move abroad is unlikely to materialise given the UK's tough regime in managing sex offenders.
