Key figures in Birmingham City's Hong Kong parent firm are sacked then reinstated
Key figures in soccer club's HK parent firm are sacked at AGM - then reappointed
The embattled Hong Kong parent firm of English soccer club Birmingham City has experienced another tumultuous week of boardroom intrigue as factional infighting saw key figures fired and rehired within days.
Shareholders of Birmingham International Holdings - the former company of jailed money launderer Carson Yeung Ka-sing - on Tuesday attended their annual general meeting in a Tuen Mun hotel, where they voted to remove executive director and fans' favourite Panos Pavlakis from the business.
They also re-elected Hong Kong businessman Peter Pannu, the right-hand man of Yeung who was dismissed as chief executive last month amid a furore over postings made under Pannu's name on a blog.
The very next day, board members loyal to Pavlakis hosted a snap meeting and pushed through his reappointment with two others who had also been dismissed during the AGM.
Pannu condemned the reappointment as a "dire abuse of directorial powers".
Hairdresser turned multimillionaire Yeung is serving a six-year sentence in Stanley Prison for laundering HK$721 million. He resigned from Birmingham International following his conviction last year, but maintained his majority stake and was therefore entitled to vote by proxy at the annual meeting.
Following Yeung's departure, Pannu took the reins of the company, but riled fans and investors when lengthy posts appeared on fan website .
