Bowen in legal dispute with Reading after being sacked over betting ban

Mark Bowen and Reading are locked in a legal dispute after the Sky Bet League One club terminated his contract as their head of football operations over his recent ban for betting on football.
The former Wales international served a four-week suspension after an independent FA regulatory commission found that the 60-year-old had placed bets for a friend on matches not involving his own clubs.
Bowen placed 95 bets on football matches between April 2022 to January 2024, for a total stake of £8,450, with a negative return of £7,939.02. The commission cited the fact that he had been fined in 2020 for betting and yet had repeated the offence. That said, eight of the 12 weeks of the ban he was issued with in July were suspended and he was fined £7,000, plus costs of £900.
The former Wales and Manchester City assistant manager, who has been in his role at Reading for more than two years, has now served his suspension, but The Times understands that in July he was also informed by his employers that he was in breach of his contract for bringing the club into disrepute.
With his salary well into six figures, for a club who have been in serious financial difficulties these past few years — and which is the subject of a possible takeover by the American lawyer Rob Couhig — Bowen’s departure would represent a significant saving.
But lawyers now acting for Bowen, who also managed Reading between 2019 and 2020, may well point to the outcome of other disciplinary matters at the club.
In May Reading were fined £200,000 after an independent regulatory commission found that the club and three of their staff members — Nigel Howe, Sue Hewett and Michael Gilkes — had breached FA intermediary regulations.
Howe, the club’s chief executive, was fined a further £5,000 and issued with an immediate six-month suspension from involvement with player contract negotiations and transfer-related activity, plus a further six-month suspension from all football-related activity to commence upon the expiry of the first suspension.
Yet Howe is now the club’s property projects manager, allowing him to continue overseeing takeover negotiations, while Hewett remains club secretary.
While a statement from Reading conceded that the club’s conduct “fell short of the high standards with which we usually operate”, support was expressed for three employees who had previously “represented Reading FC in an exemplary fashion for over 20 years”.
This year the club’s principal owner, Dai Yongge, was charged by the English Football League for bringing the club “into disrepute”.
After paying wages late on more than three occasions last year, Dai was asked to deposit 125 per cent of the wage bill into an allotted account to prove his long-term interest in running the club.
After failing to do so on two occasions, his fine was increased to £80,000, with an independent panel asked to determine any further punishments.
“The owner of the club, Mr Dai Yongge, has today been charged with misconduct for his repeated failures to deposit an amount equal to 125 per cent of the club’s forecast monthly wage bill in a designated bank account,” an EFL statement read.
“Mr Dai did not meet this month’s deadline, meaning he has been in default for nearly four months and remains in breach of both the first decision (August 2023) and second decision (December 2023) as ordered by the independent disciplinary commission.
“He has also been charged with bringing the club and/or League into disrepute as a result of his actions. Both charges have been referred to an independent disciplinary commission.”
In February Reading received a second points deduction of the season, with the two points docked by the EFL for the club’s failure to make HMRC payments within an 80-day limit.
Both Reading and Bowen declined to comment on Monday.