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Reading have been charged with failing to pay their players on time and in full on three occasions last season by the English Football League.

The charges relate to October, November and April's wage bills.

Reading's owner Yongge Dai has also been charged with causing the club to be in breach of EFL regulations.

The managerless Royals were relegated to League One last season for the first time in 21 years following their disappointing 2022-23 campaign.

Reading and Dai have until 16:00 BST on Thursday, 29 June to respond to the charges.

Wigan Athletic, who were also relegated from the Championship, have faced similar charges from the EFL for failing to pay their players on time.

The Latics were subsequently docked four points on two occasions and will start their League One campaign with an eight-point deficit on their opponents.

Reading were deducted six points by the EFL in April for breaching the terms of an agreed business plan for a previous profit and sustainability rule breach - all but sealing their relegation fate.

They were were also given a six-point penalty in 2021, for losing £57.8m between 2017 and 2021 - the EFL's limit for that period was £39m.

On Thursday, Royals chief executive Dayong Pang posted a letter to fans where he said he was "confident" the club would "fully correct the mistakes that were made many years ago".

He added: "As a club, financially we continue to face a number of significant challenges and our owner, Mr Dai, is working very hard to resolve those issues to ensure the future of Reading Football Club is stable, successful, progressive and positive."

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League One side Reading have been put under a new transfer embargo by the English Football League for failing to pay taxes on time.

The financially troubled club had only just had a two-year embargo for breaching the EFL's financial rules lifted.

The latest embargo relates to an unpaid HM Revenue & Customs debt.

The Royals were served a winding-up petition over the same issue last month and are due in court on 9 August.

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Reading have been deducted one point by the English Football League for failing to pay their players on time and in full on three occasions last season.

The regulation breaches relate to instances on 31 October 2022, 30 November 2022, and 28 April 2023.

Reading, who on Tuesday won their first league game in six months, now have two points and drop to 18th in League One.

Owner Dai Yongge has also been fined £10,000 and ordered to deposit funds to avoid further breaches.

This is the second time the Royals have been docked points this calendar year, with the club also given a six-point deduction in April for breaching the terms of an agreed business plan - for a previous profit and sustainability rule breach.

They were relegated to the third tier at the end of last season and were again placed under a transfer embargo this summer, which was lifted earlier this month.

The latest penalty includes a further three-point deduction, which has been suspended.

A Royals descent: The fall of Reading
Analysis: Can Reading keep chaos on the sidelines?
Dai has been given 28 days to put 125% of the club's forecast monthly wage bill into a designated account. Failure to do that, or to pay wages on time until 30 June 2024, will mean the additional three-point deduction will be activated.

"The EFL remains extremely frustrated at the consistent failures of the club's ownership to meet its ongoing obligations under EFL regulations, the consequences of which are having a negative impact for all those associated with Reading, particularly its staff members, supporters, and local community," a statement said.

Reading said that after being charged in June they "accepted the charges in principle".

"Our dialogue with the EFL and the independent disciplinary commission has been open throughout the process and, in accepting that the repeated late payment of wages is wholly unacceptable, we believe the punishment is just," a club statement said.

"The wage bill has been satisfied in full and on time for the last three months and, as recently communicated to supporters, our owner will continue to seek and secure reliable sources of stable external investment which will ensure cashflow complications do not arise and result in any further breaches of EFL regulations."

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League One Reading have been docked three points after the owners failed to deposit 125% of the forecast wage bill on Tuesday.

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Reading have been referred to an independent disciplinary commission by the English Football League over money owed to His Majesty's Revenue & Customs.

The League One club has not paid money owed for unpaid debts in September and October 2023.

The Royals were served with a second winding-up petition in four months over the issue on Tuesday.

The EFL commission will decide whether another sanction is appropriate.

Reading fans stage protest against owner Dai Yongge
"This is a challenging situation for all involved and we understand the frustrations of supporters and the negative impact sporting sanctions and further charges are having on the football club," EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said.

"As a League, we are required to ensure all 72 members are treated fairly and consistently on all matters so that the integrity of the competition is maintained.

"These consistent failures of the club's ownership to meet its ongoing obligations have a knock-on effect on all clubs and as such, the deterrents in place must be actioned when breached."

Reading, who were relegated from the Championship last season, have already been docked four points this season for failing to pay wages on time and are bottom of the League One table having lost their last five matches.

They were also placed under another transfer embargo on 29 September by the EFL and cannot pay to sign any players for the next three transfer windows.

An EFL hearing against owner Dai Yongge is due to take place at the end of November.

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Reading owner Dai Yongge has been fined £20,000 by the EFL for failing to deposit wages at the League One club.

Dai was charged with misconduct in September over his failure to bank enough money to cover 125% of the forecast monthly wage bill.

The EFL recommended he be banned from all football activity for 12 months, but an independent disciplinary commission opted against enforcing it.

However, the commission described Dai's actions as "deliberate misconduct".

A further £50,000 fine has been suspended until 12 January, 2024, and that will be triggered if he fails to deposit the required amount in full.

The Chinese businessman, who is looking to sell the Berkshire club, is also required to maintain the deposit levels set out by the EFL until at least the end of August.

The EFL said it did not feel another sporting sanction against Reading was appropriate in this case as they were taking direct action against the owner.

The Royals have already had 10 points deducted this season for further financial breaches.

The independent commission were said to be "unimpressed" by Dai's failure to provide detailed evidence as to why payments were not being made, but felt banning him would not help source the funds required to meet the club's bills.

"It is hoped this latest financial sanction, and the threat of further monetary penalties will bring a resolution to the short-term issue of funding the deposit account, which in turn should provide some re-assurance to the management, staff, and players at the club, who continue to act as outstanding ambassadors for Reading FC, despite the challenging circumstances," an EFL statement said.

"The League will have no hesitation in bringing further charges against Dai Yongge if he fails to comply with the commission's directive and is also ready to support the club in quickly progressing a change of control at the club once a purchaser has been identified."

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Reading have been given a suspended three-point deduction for the abandonment of their match with Port Vale, caused by fans invading the pitch in protest at their owner Dai Yongge.

Play was stopped in the 16th minute, with the game eventually called off.

The deduction will be activated if the Royals have another game called off because of "disruption" from fans before the end of the 2024-25 campaign.

Dai has also been charged for again not meeting a monthly funding deadline.

In three seasons, Reading have gone from the Championship to the foot of League One, had 16 points deducted, and had transfer embargoes applied as the club failed to fulfil financial commitments.

The Port Vale match will be replayed in full on 20 February, the English Football League confirmed.

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All protests will now be on the 19th minute

Reading have had two more points docked, their third deduction of the season, by the English Football League.

The League One side have had a further two-point penalty suspended after failing to pay dues to HMRC within an 80-day limit imposed by the EFL.

The club previously had four points deducted for their failure to pay wages on several occasions the previous year.

Ruben Selles' side are now only three points clear of the drop zone with 11 matches remaining.

They have dropped three places to 19th, three points ahead of Cheltenham in 21st and five ahead of Port Vale in 22nd. Both those clubs have three games in hand on Reading.

Updated League One table
Another £100,000 fine for separate charges was imposed on owner Dai Yongge by an Independent Disciplinary Commission (IDC) alongside the latest points deduction.

The IDC's written explanation showed the EFL had again urged the commission to disqualify Dai from being a director and hand out an immediate four-point deduction - the rationale being that any penalty should be more severe than previous sanctions.

However the commission decided against disqualifying him as an owner because of "potential adverse consequences for the club" if they effectively tried to force a sale, and said suspending two of the points would be "a further incentive for compliance".

Reading asked for a one-point suspended penalty to run from the date the club is sold, insisting the club was separate from Dai and had done all it could to comply, though their suggestion was rejected.

Deduction 'completely misguided'
Caroline Parker, spokesperson for Reading fans' group Sell Before We Dai, said: "Given the ongoing sales talks, the timing of today's punishment is spectacular. Imposing a points penalty which increases our chances of relegation and therefore decreases the prospect of our club being sold is completely misguided.

"The EFL claims to be on the side of the fans, instead - yet again - they disproportionately punish those who care the most over those who care the least.

"The message being sent is that the league cares more about its rulebook than the health and history of the football clubs that play in it."

Dai has repeatedly failed to meet deadlines to pay a sum amounting to 125% of the club's monthly wage bill into a nominated bank account, and is required to pay the fine by 18 March 2024.  

If he fails to comply with the prior order of the IDC to meet the deposit requirement within 28 days, a further suspended fine of £100,000 will be triggered - and an additional fine of £100,000 will be imposed if the money is not received within five weeks.

In a note to the IDC, Dai said: "My position has not changed - I am unfortunately still not able to fund the account due to financial and cashflow issues. Any funds I have had available have gone to paying immediate liabilities such as player wages."

In total the club had been docked 12 points across the previous two seasons, meaning it is now 18 points they have lost under the ownership of Dai, who took control in 2017.

Last month the club were also given a suspended three-point deduction after fans stormed the pitch in protest against the Chinese owner, forcing the abandonment of the League One match against Port Vale.

The EFL has previously issued a series of penalties against Dai for financial misconduct, and has once again urged him to start funding the club or sell up as soon as possible.

A month ago former chief executive Nigel Howe said proposals from interested parties were likely to be presented to Dai in February.

After staff wages were paid late before Christmas, and amid reports players were having to cater for themselves at the training ground, the club made two staff redundant last month to further cut costs.

The Royals sold a series of first-team players during the January transfer window, with Nathan Abbey moving to Olympiakos, Tom McIntyre joining Portsmouth and Tom Holmes being sold to Luton before being loaned back to the end of the season.

Holmes and his team-mates head to rock-bottom Carlisle on Saturday.

'Fans punished for Dai's misdemeanours' - Analysis
BBC Radio Berkshire sports editor Tim Dellor

Fans now need to remember to protest against the unpopular Dai Yongge 18 minutes into games, rather than 16, as that is the running tally of points his incompetence has now cost the club.

This punishment may have come as a bolt out the blue to fans, but senior club staff had both feared and anticipated something along these lines for a few weeks.

When I asked manager Ruben Selles whether he was able to relax a little after a good recent run on the pitch he was adamant the relegation battle was far from won, and they needed to factor in further potential points deductions.

The latest two-point penalty is for failure to pay tax bills in 2023. Understandably, fans say the punishment is hitting the wrong people - Dai doesn't seem to care about the club, and the EFL unwisely allowed him to take ownership back in 2017. Reading fans never really wanted the owner and, along with players and staff, are the ones being punished for his misdemeanours.

With 11 games left and two rounds of wages still to pay, Selles is right.

It would be prudent to get enough of a buffer between themselves and the drop zone, to withstand any further damage inflicted by the owner.