SHANGHAI Shenhua's boardroom tussle is out in the open with chief investor Zhu Jun suing the club's shareholders for 13.8 million yuan, while on the pitch, the city's three clubs picked up key points.
A court in Pudong New Area has accepted the suit and a hearing has been fixed for May 27, officials said.
Zhu is one of the six Shenhua shareholders since the merger of the city's two clubs - Shenhua and United - in 2007 and has been involved in getting star names to the club, including Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka. But the duo quit the club before the start of the season over long salary delays. This season too hasn't been any different with three foreign players "striking" work over similar issues.
Zhu is accusing the other partners in the club, all state-owned companies, for failing to fulfill their part of the bargain.
"There's no other way. This has been going on for too long," Zhou told reporters. "It must be the hardest time in Shenhua's history."
Shenhua has yet to pay the 1 million yuan fine to the Chinese Football Association for fixing a match 10 years ago.
On the pitch, Shenhua held Qingdao Jonoon 1-1 in an away game yesterday and remains undefeated in the CSL. Shanghai Shenxin defeated Hangzhou Greentown 2-1, while Shanghai East Asia beat Tianjin Teda 1-0.
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