Reading Football Club can confirm that a sum owed to HMRC and due by Friday 22nd September 2023 remains outstanding.

In exceeding the default period, the club reported this breach and has again been placed under a registration embargo with immediate effect. It will remain in place until the breach has been remedied. 

On behalf of everyone at Reading Football Club, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to our community, our commercial partners, sponsors and suppliers and, most importantly, our fans – for your continued support and patience during this extremely challenging period.

We also want to place on record the club’s appreciation to its staff who continue to represent the club admirably in increasingly demanding circumstances. We can confirm that the wage bill for September has been satisfied in full and in a timely fashion.

The club continues to suffer significant cashflow issues and, in striving to establish sources of stable external investment, we can confirm that there has been significant interest from a number of parties seeking involvement in the club. 

Discussions and due diligence processes with a number of these potential investors continue apace. Our owner, Mr Dai, is openly inviting further credible offers of interest and declarations of intent from parties eager to pursue a potential sale of the club.

EFL STATEMENT (six days ago):

Reading FC’s owner, Mr Yongge Dai, has been charged with misconduct after failing to comply with the order of an independent Disciplinary Commission which required him to deposit an amount equal to 125% of the Club’s forecast monthly wage bill in a designated account by 12 September.

The League considers these further proceedings against him personally are necessary given the repeated failings in meeting the Club’s funding requirements which have only a detrimental impact on the Club and its wider stakeholders.

This matter will now be considered by an independent Disciplinary Commission in accordance with EFL Regulations. 

On 15 August 2023 a Disciplinary Commission issued a decision following a hearing in relation to admitted breaches of Regulations by the Club and Mr Yongge Dai relating to non-payment of wages (the Decision).

The Decision included the following sanctions:

– an active one-point deduction applied to the Club for Season 2023/24 (which has been applied);

– an order that Mr Yongge Dai ‘must arrange for an amount equal to 125% of the Club’s forecast monthly player wages bill to be deposited in a designated Club account within 28 days of this decision, such funds to be available to the Club in the event of any future delays in processing Players’ salary payments;

– a suspended 3-point deduction for the 2023/2024 Season, to expire on 30 June 2024 if not activated, but to become active if:

– the deposit was not paid into the designated Club account in accordance with the Decision; or there is any failure to pay Players on time from the date of the Decision until 30 June 2024.

The Deposit Account was not funded, activating the suspended three-point deduction on 13 September 2023.

This latest charge relates to Mr Yongge Dai’s failure to comply with that Decision.