Zhu Jun, the billionaire chair of Chinese Super League football team Shanghai Shenhua, "insists the mystery boardroom dispute threatening the future of foreign stars," including former Chelsea pair Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka has not been resolved, according to the AFP. Shenhua Coach Sergio Batista had previously said the row had been "basically resolved," and Drogba started Saturday's game against Liaoning Whowin, scoring the third goal in a 3-0 win. But Zhu, a "flamboyant online gaming tycoon who has bankrolled the club for years and reportedly threatened to withhold the salaries of foreign players," denied any deal. He is believed to be demanding other shareholders "grant him majority control of the club." Also, on his microblog, China's equivalent to Twitter, he "issued a new deadline for agreement to be reached by the end of the month." Without giving details of the dispute or saying to whom the message was aimed, Zhu wrote, "Now, I made a difficult decision to believe you one more time, one last time! And this time I have a deadline: two weeks" (AFP, 9/17).
