Reading cancelled their pre-season friendly with West Ham United after replacing their Chief Executive and manager in the space of a week. At the beginning of last week Reading CEO Nigel Howe stepped down resuming a vice-chairman role.
Dayong Pang becomes Reading’s new chief executive. He has worked with owner Dai Yongge for a number of years, according to a club statement. Over the weekend Veljko Paunović has been officially unveiled as the new Reading FC manager, replacing Mark Bowen at the helm who takes up another senior role at the club.
The Reading squad flew out to Portugal for an extended training camp where they met their new manager.
The Royals were due to play West Ham this afternoon at 4 pm but pulled the plug instead deciding to remain in Portugal where they have lined up an alternative friendly later this week.
The Government are considering reimposing quarantine measures for those arriving in the UK from Portugal as coronavirus cases rise, sources have told the BBC.
The country has recorded more than 20 cases per 100,000 people in the past week. Normally when a country surpasses that mark the UK government imposes 14 days of self-isolation on returning travellers. Footballers are not exempt from 14 days of self-quarantine.
The Championship 2020/2021 season starts the same date as the Premier League on 12th September so teams still in Portugal could find themselves in difficulties.