15 September 2023
By Hob Nob Anyone?
It has not been a good few years for loyal Reading fans, and the six point deduction we received in April for Financial Fair Play breaches undoubtedly contributed to our relegation from the Championship last season, but things have not really improved this year.
Having already been deducted a single point back in August for late payment of wages, this week we have been punished further as the English Football League have now fully imposed a further three point penalty on us, owing to owner Dai Yongge missing the enforced deadline to deposit 125% of the wage bill into a designated account by Tuesday and there would certainly have been some in the fan base who may have used a GGBET registration to see what the odds were on that happening.
The additional points were part of the earlier original sanction, but they were suspended pending compliance with this instruction. It now means we have already been docked four points for the current 2023/24 League One campaign, and we now drop down to 21st place in the third tier table with two points to our name.
In a statement released by the club, it claims that our owner is still fully 'committed' to the club and continues to actively search for new investors to help bolster the Royals' financial stability.
"Reading Football Club can confirm that a suspended three-point penalty has been activated as a result of owner Mr Dai failing to deposit an amount equating to 125% of the club's monthly wage bill into a designated account by the deadline of Tuesday 12 September 2023, as ordered by the Independent Disciplinary Commission in its decision of 15 August 2023. As communicated to our supporters previously, Mr Dai is currently undertaking an ongoing process of seeking sources of stable external investment for the football club, with the aim of mitigating the risk of cashflow complications arising in future."
The EFL itself also released a statement, indicating that additional punishments would continue to follow if the club continued to fail to comply with the rules in the coming months.
"The EFL continues to acknowledge the negative impact sporting sanctions are having on the football club. We remain extremely disappointed and frustrated at the club's ownership to meet its ongoing obligations under EFL Regulations. The League will continue to apply its rules in all circumstances deemed appropriate."
Fans will be hoping that our Chinese owners issues are soon to end, or that new investment is definitely found sooner rather than later - which may or may not lead to another, but hopefully far more stable takeover - as put simply, one way or another, these things cannot keep happening and it is absolutely ridiculous that we have now lost a total of ten points in little over a single season for extremely simple business actions that should be easily avoidable.
It is not like the rules have changed and we are adjusting, they have been known for years now, and it really is not good enough. It is going to be a difficult enough season as it is, and the loss of those four points could already prove to be a massive mistake come the end of the campaign.
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