By Samindra Kunti
January 25 – When wealthy Chinese businessman Wang Hui (pictured) took over Dutch club Ado Den Haag last year there were promises of substantial investment and new sporting glory. But the promises have gone unfulfilled.
ADO Den Haag is 110-year old club from the Dutch heartland playing in the top flight Eredivisie. Early in 2014 Wang Hui arrived in The Hague with the promise of turning the club into a new powerhouse on par with PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord and Ajax Amsterdam, clubs that have dominated the domestic Dutch game for decades and at times qualify for European competitions.
Wang bought a 98% stake in ADO for a reported €8.2 million. The club’s administrators, fans and the city’s politicians welcomed Wang and his promise of taking ADO Den Haag to a new level, but 18 months after Wang’s installation at the helm little support remains for the Chinese.
The club is languishing in the middle of the table, new player arrivals have dried up and Wang has failed to meet several deadlines for promised payments. Wang, who owns marketing company United Vansen International Sports which helped organise the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, didn’t invest a projected €3.7 million in September. He then failed to raise the money again in both November and December.
“I hope that ADO can get in to the top five clubs in Eredivisie in three years – that’s my goal,” said Wang in a recent interview with the New York Times. “To achieve this goal, we can invest more money and do whatever necessary.”
“The club thinks in a very simple way, ‘You’ve said you will invest, so you should invest,’ ” continued Wang. “But they are intervening the boss’s decision-making process. You can offer suggestions. But now the circumstances are different, and I need to adjust my strategy.”
The financial problems at ADO are acute with an imminent danger of unpaid salaries by the end of February. The Dutch FA KNVB has threatened to put ADO into administration if the club can’t bridge €1.3 million in debts soon. Last week Wang didn’t attend a shareholders meeting, claiming that he was too busy.
Wang remains unperturbed in the face of a possible liquidity crisis.
“The reason I’m not releasing any more money is that I want to know what they [ADO Den Haag] have spent it on first,” said Wang in an interview with Dutch national broadcaster NOS. “You’ve apparently taken an advance on my investment, but what have you spent it on? So far I haven’t seen one budget or business plan from ADO.”
“The situation at ADO influences our business strategy,” continued Wang. “We invest in a football club and we get pelted with abuse. What kind of investment climate is that, the shareholders want to know.”
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