Chinese state could actually be biggest shareholders of West Brom as Action for Albion make claim
The Chinese state could be the biggest shareholder of West Brom, according to a web of ownership pieced together by Action for Albion.
Albion are ultimately owned by Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development Limited, but that’s a company where Guochuan Lai is the controlling shareholder and it’s also owned by three others that are based in Shanghai.
Action for Albion, who are leading protests for change at The Hawthorns, have now shared a graphic to show the extent of West Brom’s ownership and how it leads back to the Chinese state.
Based on all the companies linked to Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development Limited, it is claimed that the Chinese state is actually a 15.77 per cent stakeholder of the Baggies, which is more than any other individual or company.
Guardian journalist Philippe Auclair reacted to seeing the graphic on Twitter on Thursday (8 June), saying: “So – could it be that WBA’s biggest shareholder is… the Chinese state? It certainly looks that way, according to the ownership structure which has been put together by Action for Albion. Incredible work from them, once again.”
How is this even allowed?
The secrecy behind the ownership of West Brom is ridiculous.
Albion fans deserve to know who owns their club but what’s even crazier is that the Premier League probably didn’t even know this when they sanctioned the takeover back in 2016.
Hopefully the continued work from Action for Albion will continue to expose the reality of West Brom’s ownership model and show to the rest of English football, football’s authorities and even the UK Government that this isn’t something that can be allowed to happen.
It’s unlikely that Jeremy Peace even knew who he was selling to seven years ago when that £200million deal was struck with Lai and Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development Limited.
It’s incredible that a supposed state-owned club can be having money drained out of it on such a small scale, in terms of what these Chinese companies are worth and can bring in.
The £10million-plus owned by Lai is no doubt pocket change when you look at the bigger picture, which begs further questions as to what on earth is going on over in the Far East in regards to this football club.
In other West Brom news, a serious allegation has been made about one of the companies behind West Brom’s ownership.