ADO Den Haag cash crisis: Investor fight continues, Sponsor Kyocera drops out

By Janene Pieters on December 15, 2016 - 13:16
ADO Den Haag mural
ADO Den Haag mural. (Sabine1981 / Wikimedia Commons)

Kyocera is dropping out as sponsor for ADO Den Haag early next year, was revealed in court in Amsterdam on Thursday in a lawsuit filed by ADO Den Haag against it's main shareholder United Vansen and its owner Hui Wang, ANP reports. 

Dutch football association KNVB also relegated ADO Den Haag to the worrisome category 1, which means that the club is now under the guardianship of the association. 

ADO Den Haag filed this lawsuit in an effort to get an independent chairman appointed to its supervisory board. If this is successful Hui Wang will lose control of the shares. The club also wants an investigation into the policy its Chinese investor implemented. In this the club is supporter by the Dutch members of its supervisory board as well as the municipality of The Hague.

The municipality's lawyer called Wang "fickle and unreliable" and said United Vansen is not complying to agreements and assurances made at the sale of ADO Den Haag. According to the lawyer, Wang sent an email to director Mattijs Manders on Thursday morning at 8:50 a.m. asking that the trial be dropped. In exchange he would pay 500 thousand euros to solve the club's liquidity problems. "That commitments is worth as much as other empty promises." the lawyer said.

This dispute with United Vansen, which holds 98 percent of ADO Den Haag's shares, has lef the club in financial distress. The club was unable to submit a balanced budget to the KNVB, which resulted in the club being downgraded to category 1 and a fine of 10 thousand euros. If no recovery plan is submitted in the next six weeks, further sanctions will follow.

The club is also faced with an impending loss of its license if it can't get its affairs in order by February 1st. Without a proper budget, the license is in definite danger. 

This case is separate from in which the club hopes to force the Chinese company to meet its financial obligations. This trial will appear in court on December 28th. 

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