Reading owner Dai Yongge told by Football League: pay up or sell up

The English Football League has hit out at the deeply unpopular Reading owner Dai Yongge’s “clear disregard for his obligations” after he received another fine for breaching a financial order. The league has urged the Chinese businessman to either fund or sell the beleaguered League One club.

Hundreds of protesting Reading supporters invaded the pitch on Saturday, prompting their League One game against Port Vale to be abandoned. Reading are 21st, three points from safety. The EFL board will discuss the appropriate course of action at a scheduled meeting on Wednesday. The league said the invasion “demonstrated the impact the current situation is having on everyone associated with the club”.

Last month Yongge was fined £20,000 for failing to deposit 125% of the monthly wage bill, as requested, and a suspended £50,000 fine has been activated after he failed to meet last Friday’s deadline. The crisis club, acquired by Yongge in 2017, have been docked 16 points across the past three seasons.

Reading, at risk of successive relegations, have implemented a number of cost-cutting measures in recent months and recently scrapped overnight stays on away trips. There have been a number of redundancies, including coaching staff. They are also poised to sell the defenders Tom Holmes and Nelson Abbey to generate funds. Several suppliers have frozen their accounts with the club.

In November, Reading’s head coach, Rubén Sellés, and their head of football operations, Mark Bowen, initially forewent wages to ensure other staff were paid. Charlie Savage, signed from Manchester United last summer, is one league start from triggering a £2,000-a-month pay rise. Savage, who has made 23 league appearances this season, 14 of which have been starts, has not started a league match since 7 November. Reading insist the reason Savage has not started games of late is nothing to do with his contractual situation.

Reading’s plight is set to be raised on Tuesday at the House of Commons by the culture, media and sport select committee. The EFL chairman, Rick Parry, and the Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Masters, will discuss the desire for an independent regulator and financial redistribution and meet James Sunderland, the MP for Bracknell. The EFL is due to meet the Supporters Trust at Reading (Star) and Sell Before We Dai, a fan group protesting against the owner, on Tuesday.

In a statement on Monday the league said: “We urge Mr Dai either to fund the club adequately or to make immediate arrangements to sell his majority shareholding to appropriate new owners so everyone can move forward with renewed optimism.”

The EFL previously pushed for Yongge to be banned from all footballing activity for 12 months in an attempt to force a reset at the club. But while an independent disciplinary commission said it was “unimpressed” by Yongge’s financial failures, it felt banning him would not help source the funds required to meet the club’s bills.