The Hague (Holland), Dec 1 (IANS) Dutch football club ADO Den Haag has initiated a lawsuit against majority shareholder Wang Hui for failing to meet his financial obligations.
Local media reported that during a general shareholders' meeting on Tuesday evening, a lawyer handed the summons to representatives of United Vansen. The sports marketing company owned by Wang owns 98 percent of the club's shares. Wang himself was not present at the meeting. It is said that the summons will also be presented to the company in China, reports Xinhua.
According to local media, there have long been problems between Wang and the football club located in this city, the third largest in the country. ADO had to wait for a long time for crucial payments, and the financial situation at ADO has long been tight.
The club should have submitted its financial figures to the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) on November 1, but was granted a one-month delay due to the problems. The club has now again asked for extra time to get the budget in order.
When asked about the current situation by Dutch broadcaster NOS on Wednesday, Wang said that he did not know about being summoned yet.
"No, I still have no clue about what is going on. They have not told me yet," he said.
Furthermore, Wang said he had not been informed by ADO about the current deficit.
"We already put 6 or 7 million into the club, and the last time I was at a meeting they did not say anything about this money issue," he noted.
The majority shareholder said that he does not know where a big part of the money that was invested in the club has gone.
"We have asked to use the money, for instance, for the renovation of facilities and the stadium, as we want the money to be invested in the club. But, ADO does not use the money for that. As far as I can see, there is now 1 to 1.5 million worth of investments of which I do not know where it went," Wang said.
After the contract was signed in July 2014, the take-over of ADO Den Haag by United Vansen became definite when the company fulfilled its financial obligations in January of 2015. Around eight million euros (around $8.5 million) was paid for 98 percent of the shares of the Dutch Eredivisie club.
When problems occurred at the end of 2015, as Wang was not paying the club in accordance with the deal, both ADO Den Haag and Wang emphasized that the problems were a result of cultural misunderstandings.
--IANS
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