Reading’s Sky Bet League One match with Port Vale was abandoned after home fans invaded the pitch to protest against owner Dai Yongge.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the key questions following the events of Saturday afternoon.
About a thousand Reading fans took the pitch at the Select Car Leasing Stadium with sixteen minutes remaining. After the game was stopped, some forty spectators were still on the field 68 minutes later. When the decision to cancel the game was announced at 4:25 p.m., spectators gathered around the middle circle, encircled by security personnel. In the centre circle, supporters hoisted a banner that said, “Football has an ownership problem,” and they yelled anti-Yongge slogans.
A lot of Reading supporters want Yongge to sell. The club’s course under his leadership has caused supporters to become more and more afraid and concerned. “Desperate situation, desperate fans, desperate measures,” said the statement issued on Saturday night by the fan group Sell Before We Dai, which is demanding a change of ownership. Members expressed their concern for the club’s survival and stated that “the threat could not be more real” in a 242-word statement.
Reading has lost three points during the last three years due to different financial violations, for a total of sixteen points. A six-point deduction cost the Royals their Championship spot last season. They have dropped four points so far this season, which has put them in the relegation zone. Transfer talks for some of his players are apparently unknown to manager Ruben Selles, and they have also been subject to transfer embargoes. There have been other fan protests in the past that were less disruptive.
In May 2017, the Chinese investor and his sister Dai Xiu Li acquired a majority stake in Reading. Shortly after the Royals secured their spot in the Championship play-off final, only to lose to Huddersfield on penalties, the takeover was revealed. The 55-year-old Yongge had previously been a part of the disbanded Chinese club Beijing Renhe and the Belgian team KSV Roeselare. He made an unsuccessful attempt to purchase Hull in 2016. Following a financial misconduct charge, the English Football League recently attempted to have Yongge suspended from all football activities for a year, but their proposal was unsuccessful.
Prior to Us Selling The events of Saturday, Dai cautioned, marked the beginning of a “elevated protest action.” The organisation intends to exert pressure on the EFL in an attempt to fix the matter, and they may do so in concert with supporters of other teams that have encountered ownership problems. There may also be more impromptu fan protests on match days. Reading is expected to receive a fine from the EFL, which intends to “discuss the implications” of Saturday’s events with both clubs. Yongge put the team up for sale in October, and a lot of Royals supporters are hoping for an impending takeover.
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