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Chinese owner has to pay ADO 2.5 million euros: judge

Xinhua, January 6, 2017 Adjust font size:

Chinese owner United Vansen has to pay Dutch soccer club ADO Den Haag an amount of 2,477,605 euros (2,611,973 U.S. dollars), including interest, the court in The Hague decided on Thursday.

ADO had demanded 2,347,496 euros from the Chinese marketing company, led by Wang Hui, which was part of a total 3,728,000 euros agreed in August 2015 as part of the Chinese take-over of the Dutch club.

Judge Gerard van Ham acknowledged the demands of ADO and said that "United Vansen failed in the execution of this agreement".

ADO can now claim the money immediately. If the Chinese company UVS fails to pay, it also has to pay additional interest costs and court costs. However, UVS can appeal against the verdict.

The defendants and their lawyers were not present in the courtroom, just like in the court session on Dec. 28 last year.

If a defendant does not appear in Dutch court for civil proceedings the judge may pronounce a default judgment, a judgment in the absence of the defendant, if the summons were transferred correctly by the plaintiff.

Although the judge said that the summons might not have been handed properly to UVS in China according to the Chinese rules, the judge also said that Dutch law is applicable in this case and that in an urgent case like this a default judgment is possible.

In addition, the judge noted that ADO had informed UVS of the court case in several ways and that during the case before the Enterprise Division of the Amsterdam Court UVS had mentioned the existence of the case at the The Hague court.

On December 19 last year the Enterprise Division of the Amsterdam Court already ruled that UVS boss Wang Hui should be suspended from his function as chairman of supervisory board of ADO and that all shares owned by UVS will, for now, be taken over by a third party. In addition, the Enterprise Division demanded an independent investigation into the events at the club since the Chinese take-over almost two years ago.

With the verdict the Enterprise Division mostly acknowledged the complaints made by ADO. The club had decided to file a case against the major shareholder from China for mismanagement. One cannot demand money at the Enterprise Division and therefore ADO filed a lawsuit at the court in The Hague to force UVS to meet their financial obligations.

ADO are currently having financial problems, according to the club because the promised money from China did not arrive. The Dutch football association KNVB had placed ADO in financial Category 1, which means that the club is under surveillance. If the club does not submit a balanced budget before February 1, 2017, the future of the club might be at risk. Endit