Reading supporters have voiced their opinions about owner Dai Yongge once more. The team has already lost points for not paying players’ salaries and for not paying all of the backroom staff their full November salary.
Calling on club owner Yongge “to sell up before more damage is done to the club we know and love,” the campaign group Sell Before We Dai recently staged a demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament.
Prior to Us Selling Dai produced a list of the following clubs: Sheffield Wednesday, Southend United, Oldham Athletic, Scunthorpe United, Morecambe, Derby County, Wigan Athletic, Everton, and WBA. These clubs are currently experiencing problems or have in the past.
It was the most recent in a string of peaceful protests by Reading supporters, who previously gained notoriety earlier this month when they disrupted the team’s FA Cup match against Eastleigh with a tennis ball demonstration.
Fan organizations from other teams also expressed appreciation for the message; Ali Jones of Action for Albion told the I that it “shows the strength of unity in fans that the football community all pulls together in times of crisis.”
There are supporters of the call from all levels of the pyramid, and legislation to that effect is presently passing through Parliament; the time for this legislation cannot come soon enough.
Since we’ve been advocating for an independent regulator for years, the FSA has been at the center of the political process. We also made sure that hundreds of supporter groups had the chance to participate in the Fan-led Review of Football Governance by directly testifying before the panel.
In a compelling report, the Fan-led Review, also known as the Crouch Review, demanded the establishment of an independent regulator to oversee financial sustainability and safeguard our historic clubs through an enhanced owners’ and directors’ test.
We also demanded grassroots football, a more equitable distribution of football’s wealth, and a separate review specifically focused on the women’s game.
The government’s pledge to create an independent regulator was directly influenced by the Fan-led Review. But what does the legislation actually mean, and what authority will a regulator have?
A new independent regulator with a “tightly defined scope focused on four areas: financial resources, suitable owners, fan interests, and approved competitions” will be established by the legislation.
Should it make it through the legislative process, this means:
To safeguard teams and their supporters from “careless owners,” the owners’ and directors’ test should be strengthened.
utilizing innovative supporter engagement models to give supporters a bigger voice in how their clubs are run.
giving the regulator the authority to prevent teams from joining independent leagues like the European Super League.
granting “fall-back powers over financial redistribution” to the regulatory body.
Leave a Reply