Reading is deducted by six points for the second year in a row
Reading are deducted six points for the second year in a row after breaching EFL financial rules… leaving Paul Ince’s side just ONE point above the Championship relegation zone
- Read have had six points deducted for violating their spending plan
- It is the second consecutive season that the club has scored points
- The Royals are now just one point above the relegation zone in the Championship
Reading have been hit with an immediate six-point penalty for exceeding the EFL’s winning and durability limits.
Sportsmail exclusively revealed last month that the Royals would be awarded points for a second successive campaign, and the penalty has now been handed to the club.
Paul Ince’s side were seven points clear of the bottom three prior to deduction, but are now just one point above 22nd-placed Huddersfield.
In a statement published on Tuesday, the club said: “Reading Football Club can confirm that we have accepted a second six-point penalty applied after the club failed to fully comply with a business plan agreed after a historic breach of the profit from the EFL. and sustainability limits.
‘The points deduction is immediately applied to our total.
Reading have been deducted six points for the second consecutive season
Paul Ince’s side are now just one point above the Championship relegation zone after the penalty
In November 2021, the club was given a six-point deduction for a cumulative breach of the rules – with a further six penalty points suspended until 2022/23.
At the time of the original breach, it had been agreed with the League that this additional six-point penalty would be applied if the club failed to meet the requirements of an agreed business plan for 2022-23.
And despite radical changes made at first-team level and throughout the structure of the company down to the very core – and a rigid adherence to a strictly league-controlled wage structure and a transfer embargo, the club accepts that it cannot has satisfactorily met certain elements of the planned budget and, as a result, the club’s independent financial review panel has been unable to confirm that the club has met its compliance forecast.”
The independent Club Financial Review Unit has also released a statement confirming the news.
“This is the first time a club in the EFL has been subject to a review by the newly formed independent Club Financial Review Panel (CFRP), chaired by Christopher Quinlan KC, which examines matters raised by the independent Club Financial Reporting Unit of the EFL (CFRU),’ they said.
“The club has admitted the two breaches of the original agreement with the EFL and has agreed to this six-point deduction through an agreed decision with the CFRU. The panel has endorsed that decision.
In addition, the club will have to agree a new budget with the club’s independent financial reporting unit for the 2023/24 season to ensure compliance with the rules going forward. This will be finalized once the club’s full P&S Review for the current season has been completed.”
Reading will return to action on Friday as they host Birmingham City and now have seven games left to finish above the bottom three to remain in England’s second tier next season.