Pay threat to Anelka and Drogba in Shanghai Shenhua shareholders' row
Futures of Anelka and Drogba in the balance as dispute over investment rocks Shanghai club
Shanghai Shenhua have been rocked by a row over investment that could threaten the futures of star signings Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba.
Sources say chairman Zhu Jun may stop paying the former Chelsea players' salaries, said to be more than US$300,000 a week, if funds are not committed by the five other state-owned shareholders.
Zhu, founder of The9, a Nasdaq-listed online game developer and operator, took management control of Shenhua in 2007 when he secured his 28.5 per cent share of the club.
According to the 2007 agreement, Zhu's share in the club would rise to 70 per cent if his total investment exceeded 150 million yuan (HK$183 million).
The state-owned Oriental Sports Daily reported that Zhu had invested about 600 million yuan into Shenhua.
Meanwhile, the other shareholders - five local government-owned companies - have not put in any money at all, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.