It has turned into a tough old season once again for fans of Reading FC as their supporters have ongoing issues and serious concerns about the management of owner Dai Yongge. Although it appears he is trying to pass the club on, it has been confirmed this week that they have now had a further two point deduction made by the English Football League.
This is the third time that the League One side have received a points deduction this year, and they have again had a further two point penalty suspended after breaching an 80 day limit imposed by the EFL for failing to pay appropriate dues to HMRC and if anyone had wondered what to do with their bet365 UK new customer bonus code, Reading being placed in more trouble was probably a safe bet. Bet365 is therefore likely to cover the match.
Earlier in the year they had received a four point deduction for a failure to pay wages on time, on multiple occasions the previous year, and after the latest sanction it again sees them hovering above the relegation drop zone by only three points, with manager Ruben Selles’ side only having eleven games left to play in the year.
The additional deduction drops them down three places in the table to 19th place, but the other problem that they now have is it leaves them only three points ahead of Cheltenham Town and five ahead of Port Vale, and both of those sides have a full three games in hand over them.
Dai also saw a separate £100,000 fine levied on him by an Independent Disciplinary Commission alongside the points deduction.
It is again a telling punishment for the club, but the EFL had called on the IDC for a straight four point punishment, along with immediately disqualifying Dai from continuing to serve as a director. However, the commission believed that suspending two of the points would serve as a ‘further incentive for compliance’, and argued that there could be significant ‘potential adverse consequences for the club’ through the appearance of forcing a sale.
Reading for themselves had requested a one point suspended penalty to come into play from the date the club was sold, insisting that they were now separate from Dai and had made best endeavours to comply, but this was dismissed by the panel.
Reacting to the news, fans’ group Sell Before We Dai spokesperson, Caroline Parker, called the points deduction ‘completely misguided’ believing that it could potentially derail the sale talks that are currently ongoing, and she felt that the timing of the punishment was particularly ‘spectacular’.
“Imposing a points penalty which increases our chances of relegation and therefore decreases the prospect of our club being sold is completely misguided. The EFL claims to be on the side of the fans, instead – yet again – they disproportionately punish those who care the most over those who care the least.”
Reading’s problems are unlikely to be over yet either, as with Dai repeatedly failing to meet deadlines that have been imposed for him to pay a sum amounting to 125% of their monthly wage bill into a nominated bank account, and the new fine is due by March 18. If he continues to fail to comply with the prior order within 28 days, that will trigger a further suspended fine of £100,000, and an additional £100,000 fine will be imposed if the money is not received within a five week period.
For himself, Dai supplied a note to the commission which simply stated:
“My position has not changed – I am unfortunately still not able to fund the account due to financial and cashflow issues. Any funds I have had available have gone to paying immediate liabilities such as player wages.”
With the new sanction imposed, it means that Reading have been docked 12 points across the last two seasons, and have been docked 18 points in total under his ownership tenure.
Founder and Editor-in-Chief at The Real EFL, Gary is a passionate Lincoln City fan with extensive content creation across the Championship and EFL. He also shares expert football betting tips.
