Chinese boss defaults on wages, British fans throw counterfeit money in protest

According to the “Daily Mail” report: During Reading’s away game against Eastleigh in the second round of the FA Cup, Reading fans faced the live broadcast to protest against the club’s owner Dai Yongge.

Reading Club was punished by deducting league points due to unpaid wages. It is currently in the relegation zone of English League One and faces the fate of being relegated to English League Two. Club owner Dai Yongge is the executive director and chief executive of Renhe Commercial Group (now known as Dili Group).

In the 16th minute of the FA Cup match, Reading fans threw tennis balls and counterfeit money into the field in protest, causing the game to have to be cleaned and the game to be delayed for a long time.

The fans’ protests received widespread support. The “Daily Mail” stated that Dai Yongge has a history of failure when managing football clubs. He disbanded one club in China (ie, Beijing Renhe) and another in Belgium (KSV Roesler).

The club’s first points deduction occurred in November 2021, when they were docked six points for breaching the English Football League’s profit and sustainability rules. They spend 234% of their revenue on player salaries.

In March this year, they were deducted 6 points and relegated to League One for another breach of profit and sustainability rules. In August, they were deducted another point and three people at the club were suspended for failing to pay players on time last season. The suspended sentence was implemented in September and Dai Yongge faced misconduct charges.

While Tai has said he is open to selling the club, they have faced winding-up petitions from HMRC on more than one occasion for unpaid taxes and there is no sign of a sale.

Originally, investment management company Genevra Associates intended to acquire Reading, but Dai Yongge made major changes to the terms of the acquisition at the last minute. As a result, Genevra Associates considered withdrawing its intention to acquire the company. Reading’s future becomes even more uncertain.