READING MP Matt Rodda has called for further action from the owner of Reading Football Club amid continued difficulty for the club in a speech in the House of Commons.
In the House last week, Stephanie Peacock, the Under-secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport congratulated UK Olympians and Paralympians for their achievements over the summer’s respective games.
During the debate, Mr Rodda joined Ms Peacock in emphasising the importance of sport in the lives of all kinds of people and the benefits it can give, especially to people with disabilities.
He said: ” I want to pay tribute to Paralympians and Olympians after the summer’s success.
“I will highlight some of the wonderful achievements of local sportsmen and women from the Reading area and the importance of grassroots sport in our community.
“I start with the amazing success of our local Paralympians at this summer’s Paralympic games–I mention in particular Gregg Stevenson, a Paralympic rower who trains in Caversham, where the British rowing base is.”
He continued: “Gregg has been through enormous challenges in life, yet he won gold for GB in the PR2 mixed double sculls.
“He suffered disability in 2009 while he was a member of the 59 Commando Squadron in the Royal Engineers through a bomb blast in Afghanistan, which caused him to lose both legs.
“He has come back from that tragedy to become a Paralympic rower–It is important to remember the contribution of our service personnel, as well as other disabled sportspeople.
“What an amazing achievement.”
He also praised Ed Fuller, a Paralympic rower who attended the University of Reading, and Will Arnott, a boccia Paralympian, for their hard work and dedication.
“I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their work for ParalympicsGB to raise the profile of the Paralympics, and para sport in general, among young and older people, both in the Reading area and across the country.”
He took the opportunity also to bring the continued difficulty faced by Reading Football Club, as the selling of the club is beset with delays.
“Mr Dai Yongge… has caused huge problems for fans, players, and the club.
“I am glad to see that the previous Government’s Football Governance Bill has been brought back by our Front-Bench team, and I hope that soon becomes law and deals with the problem of irresponsible ownership, which has been experienced across the country by a number of clubs.”
He explained that the club had faced issues from the “repeated financial mismanagement” from ownership, and the resulting points deductions, which he described as “grossly unfair on the club, the players and local fans” and “unacceptable.”
He added: “Sadly, the powers available to the English Football League are not as great as they might be, and I hope that the Bill, which will hopefully come to Parliament shortly, will tackle this and set a high bar for ownership.
“It is interesting that Mr Yongge was not allowed to buy Hull City; the Premier League was able to intervene to avoid that.
“The EFL did not have the power at the time to stop him buying Reading, and that is an absolute tragedy for our fans, the players and the club. I hope something can be done about it.”
He concluded by explaining: “The fans sent a strong message to Mr Yongge that he needed to get on with selling the club, finding a preferred bidder and working with them to move things on, so that a new owner could invest in the club.
“In the last year, the situation has not been properly addressed. He has been in discussion with Rob Couhig, the former owner of Wycombe Wanderers, but sadly that fell through a few days ago.
“It has been announced that a new preferred bidder has come forward–I urge Mr Yongge to take all reasonable steps to engage with the new preferred bidder quickly, and to conclude a sale, so that we can move on, take our wonderful club forward, and get it back up to the premiership.”
