Reading F.C. Charged with Failing to Pay Players on Time
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Reading Football Club have been charged by the English Football League (EFL) for failing to pay their players on time and in full on three occasions last season. The charges relate to October, November and April’s wage bills. Reading’s owner Yongge Dai has also been charged with causing the club to be in breach of EFL regulations.
The managerless Royals were relegated to League One last season for the first time in 21 years following their disappointing 2022-23 campaign. Reading and Dai have until 16:00 BST on Thursday, 29 June to respond to the charges.
Wigan Athletic, who were also relegated from the Championship, have faced similar charges from the EFL for failing to pay their players on time. The Latics were subsequently docked four points on two occasions and will start their League One campaign with an eight-point deficit on their opponents.
Reading’s Previous Financial Troubles
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Reading were deducted six points by the EFL in April for breaching the terms of an agreed business plan for a previous profit and sustainability rule breach – all but sealing their relegation fate. They were were also given a six-point penalty in 2021, for losing £57.8m between 2017 and 2021 – the EFL’s limit for that period was £39m.
Reading Chief Executive’s Statement
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On Thursday, Royals chief executive Dayong Pang posted a letter to fans where he said he was “confident” the club would “fully correct the mistakes that were made many years ago”. He added: “As a club, financially we continue to face a number of significant challenges and our owner, Mr Dai, is working very hard to resolve those issues to ensure the future of Reading Football Club is stable, successful, progressive and positive.”
Conclusion
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Reading Football Club have been charged with failing to pay their players on time and in full on three occasions last season by the English Football League. The charges relate to October, November and April’s wage bills. Reading’s owner Yongge Dai has also been charged with causing the club to be in breach of EFL regulations. The Royals have until 16:00 BST on Thursday, 29 June to respond to the charges. Reading have had a history of financial troubles and are currently facing a number of significant challenges. However, their chief executive Dayong Pang is confident that they will be able to resolve these issues and ensure the future of Reading Football Club is stable, successful, progressive and positive.