5 months ago
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Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise's agent has been banned for six months for breaching rules around a future transfer of the player when he was at Reading in 2019.
Glen Tweneboah was found to have breached Football Association rules by entering into an agreement that would see him eligible for a 10% cut of Olise’s future transfer fee, although no such payment was ever made, The Athletic reported., external
Olise graduated from the Royals' academy and signed his first professional contract in 2019.
The 22-year-old has scored 10 goals for Palace this season and been linked with a move away from Selhurst Park, with the club putting a £60m price tag on the player.
Reading have been fined £200,000 for their part in the breach, while the club's chief executive officer at the time, Nigel Howe, has been suspended for 12 months and fined £5,000 by an independent regulatory commission.
Tweneboah's ban is effective from 4 October 2024 - meaning he could still negotiate any potential transfer for Olise this summer - and he has been fined £15,000.
Reading's head of football operations Michael Gilkes and club secretary Sue Hewett were warned over their future conduct for their involvement in the matter.
The Royals issued a statement saying they were "extremely disappointed" by the "excessive" sanctions which they pointed out related to a "single agent negotiation".
"All clubs are extremely vulnerable to losing talented players that they have spent many years nurturing and developing," the statement said., external
"It remains a challenge to navigate and negotiate such deals in the best interests of the football club and these young players.
"On this one occasion, the club’s conduct fell short of the high standards with which we usually operate, and the club is committed to ensuring this will not happen again.
"Nigel, Sue and Michael have each worked for and represented Reading FC in an exemplary fashion for over 20 years. There has been no prior history of offences, nor any since."
Howe, now Reading's property projects manager and who is involved in brokering the sale of the club owned by Chinese businessman Dai Yongge, was the Royals' CEO at the time.
The commission's report, external said "his own account of his approach to the negotiation with Mr Tweneboah, and indeed such negotiations in general, is nothing short of astonishing" and that he showed a "reckless disregard" for the rules.
The report called the breaches "both serious and concerning", when outlining the sanctions.
Howe's 12-month suspension is immediate "from involvement with player contract negotiations and transfer-related activity (including dealings with agents/intermediaries) for six months", before a further six months where he will be banned from "all football-related activity".
This would bar him from any involvement in a sale of the club if it is not completed by then.
In March, the financially-stricken club said it was in "exclusive negotiations" with a buyer.
The Royals had six points deducted for financial breaches this season, having had four docked the previous term. They finished the League One season in 17th place, nine points clear of relegation.
