Reading can be dumped from the English Football League if owner Dai Yongge is not selling the club by April 5th. The Chinese businessman was disqualified last month as owner under a test of league owners and directors. This was made public at the Commercial Court in London on Friday.
During the minutes, letters from the EFL were referenced by Martin Budworth, a lawyer who had acted for DAI and reading, detailing his decision to disqualify Dai. The EFL had previously pushed for disqualification of DAI after multiple violations of the regulations, but was rejected by an independent panel and instead subjected to financial sanctions.
The reasons for Dai's disqualification are understood to be related to business issues in China and have nothing to do with the club's operations.
According to an EFL statement, “Following the disclosure in the public court today, the league can confirm that Mr Yongge has been recently disqualified based on the tests of the EFL owners and directors. The disqualification requires Mr Yongge to sell his profits to the club.
“The league is reading FC and working closely together to sell the club on the earliest opportunity to end the current uncertainty surrounding the future of staff, supporters and the wider community.”
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