Sell Before We Dai expresses fear for the future of Reading Football Club, acknowledging that an EFL sanction is probable.
According to what I hear, the Football Association (FA) is looking into Reading’s pitch invasion on Saturday, which caused them to have to abandon their League One match against Port Vale.
Fears have been raised that the financially stressed team would be fined after fans protested against owner Dai Yongge by entering the pitch in the sixteenth minute – the sixteenth representing the total number of points the team has lost since November 2021.
Following last season’s fan invasion, Sheffield Wednesday was fined £50,000 by the FA in October. Meanwhile, Reading manager Ruben Selles is concerned that his team would be barred from playing in certain stadiums.
We are aware that there can be consequences,” Selles stated following the game. “A loss of points is not expected, but it is possible. It is possible that the stadium will be empty for one or two of our games, or perhaps the entire season.
Of course, there can be financial penalties. There is a wide range of options, and a group of specialists will make the final decision.
Just seconds into their league encounter, Reading supporters started throwing tennis balls onto the pitch at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
Additionally, hundreds of supporters intervened early in the first half, despite the appeal from the fan-led protest organisation Sell Before We Dai for a pitch invasion at full time.
The protests against Yongge and the EFL caused play to be halted for over an hour at first. However, because a few obstinate players would not leave the field, the game was eventually called off just before 4.30 p.m.
“The spontaneous, unfiltered passion, as well as the will and determination of our fans, should be celebrated,” stated Sell Before We Dai, “rather than the first fan-led match abandonment in our 152-year history.”
“We realise that the EFL will punish us, but what we really need is assistance,” they continued. Fans who aren’t often hostile towards one another showed their feelings today. We fear for our football team’s future because the threat is really genuine.
“This is just the beginning of this elevated protest action, but we want this to be our last abandoned match.”
Reading was given a four-point deduction this season and now sits 21st in the League One standings. Since November 2021, the club has lost 16 points in total due to deductions; subsequent rulings and player departures suggest that the team is in danger.
The club terminated the contracts of first-team trainers Andrew Sparkes and Eddie Niedzwiecki throughout the week, cancelled hotel accommodations for away games, and the catering firm stopped serving the players at the Bearwood Park Training Ground, resulting in rumours that they were eating microwave dinners.
Tennis balls and fake pound notes were thrown onto the pitch by Reading supporters during a similar protest during the FA Cup match against Eastleigh that was broadcast on television in December.
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