READING have been plunged into further crisis after being hit with a new transfer embargo by the EFL.
The Royals are more than familiar with nightmare transfer bans after being slapped with their THIRD different market restriction since 2021.
In fact, Reading were already under an embargo until 2025 as a punishment for last year’s financial misdemeanours.
But the latest ruling relates to the late filing of accounts to Companies House for the 2022-23 financial year.
The stricken club were hit with a second embargo just last year for failing to pay taxes on time.
That came after Reading were punished with a two-year transfer ban in the summer of 2021 for an outstanding tax debt.
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The League One outfit had only been able to sign players from other clubs on loan or if they were free agents.
A Reading FC statement read: ” The Club can also confirm that – alongside the requirement to operate under the terms of its business plan – it has today been placed under a formal registration embargo by the EFL.
“We are working closely with our auditing partner to finalise these accounts at the earliest opportunity – at which point the embargo will be lifted immediately.”
Reading have not purchased a player for a transfer fee since signing Ovie Ejaira from Liverpool for around £3million in August 2020, but the winger is now a free agent after agreeing to leave in December.
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The crisis club are currently in the midst of a long ongoing takeover saga after hated current owner Dai Yongge put it up for sale earlier this year.
American business Couhig were expected to complete a deal, however talks broke down late in the process and the club moved on.
Reading were relegated from the Championship in May 2023 after ten years in the second tier.
The club would have escaped relegation if it hadn’t been hit with a six-point deduction for various off-field breaches.
The Royals finished the season on 50 points, which would have left them 19th and one point above the drop.
The club were again docked six points from the League One table last season after failing to pay a HMRC bill within a specified 80-day window.
Yongge has seen Reading get deducted a total of 18 points since his 2017 takeover.
Reading currently sit 16th in League One, with 13 points from nine games under manager Ruben Selles.
Reading timeline since Dai Yongge takeover
Here is how events have unfolded under Dai Yongge:
- May 2017 – Yongge takes control of 75 per cent of the club after they lost Championship play-off final on penalties to Huddersfield
- 2021 – Reading’s accounts show pre-tax losses of £146million, with 234 per cent of its revenue spent on player wages
- 2023 – Reading breach Financial Fair Play rules and amass deductions totalling six points
- May 2023 – Reading relegated down to the third tier for the first time in 31 years
- August 2023 – Docked one point and issued a suspended three-point punishment for breaching EFL regulations
- September 2023 – Suspended three-point deduction triggered
- February 2024 – Docked two more points for yet more breaches
- March 2024 – Yongge attempts to sell training ground to fellow League One side Wycombe
- March 2024 – Selling of the training ground put on hold due to planning limitations
- October 2024 – Reading hit with third transfer embargo since 2021
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
