News about Roman Abramovich

When oligarch ex-wife Tatiana Soroka launched a case to sue her lawyers for allegedly failing to bag his super-yacht she hoped for up to £600million. This was more than the £453million she received in what was Britain's biggest divorce settlement - an award won by top solicitor Fiona Shackleton's firm in 2016. Ms Soroka, 51, claimed she was let down when the company, Payne Hicks Beach (PHB), allegedly missed chances to have her former husband Farkhad Akhmedov's ten-deck floating palace Luna seized in Miami. But in documents filed to the High Court in London , PHB says the Ms Soroka's claim 'must fail', stating that her 'entire claim is based on a false factual premise'.

Former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been described as a 'close ally of Vladimir Putin' by football agent Saif Rubie. In court on Thursday, Rubie was cross examined by prosecution lawyer Mr Arizuna Asante in his trial for allegedly sending former Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia a threatening email. And Rubie told jurors that Abramovich, who was sanctioned by the UK government as a result of the Ukrainian invasion, had close ties to Putin, the Russian president, in reference to the political issues that have arisen since the conflict erupted.

John Terry has revealed he led a mutiny at Chelsea against a manager's decision to seat him in economy on a long-haul flight while the club's younger players were placed in first class. Terry captained Chelsea through one of the most successful periods in their history between 2003 and 2017 as they won five league titles and the Champions League. However, with former owner Roman Abramovich at the helm, Terry also witnessed a lot of upheaval at Stamford Bridge, with managerial changes occurring frequently throughout the Russian's tenure.

SAMI MOKBEL AT SOUTHWARK CROWN COURT: Football agent Saif Rubie has denied intentionally threatening the then Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia saying to do so would have been a 'suicide mission' a court heard. In a dramatic day at Southwark Crown Court, Rubie, who is accused of sending a threatening email to Granovskaia in his efforts to recover what he believed was a £300,000 payment for his role in Kurt Zouma's move from Chelsea to West Ham in the summer of 2021, refuted claims he intended to cause stress or anxiety to the former Blues supremo, saying doing so would be tantamount to a 'suicide mission' given her links to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, previous owner at Stamford Bridge.

SAMI MOKBEL AT SOUTHWARK CROWN COURT: Marina Granovskaia felt 'physically threatened' by an email sent to her by football agent Saif Rubie, a court heard today. Speaking publicly for the first time since leaving Chelsea in 2022, Granovskaia - previously a Chelsea director - described her fears after receiving an email from Rubie demanding money he believed he was owed money from the deal that saw Kurt Zouma leave Stamford Bridge for West Ham. Giving testimony in court on Tuesday morning, Granovskaia was asked by prosecuting solicitors Arizuna Asante how she felt upon receiving the email.

Former Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia has arrived at Southwark Crown Court to give evidence in a trial that sees football agent Saif Rubie accused of sending her a threatening email during her tenure at the west London club. The Russian-Canadian football administrator was a key figure under the club's former owner Roman Abramovich, and is at the centre of the court case after receiving an email from Rubie in which he is alleged to have demanded payment for Kurt Zouma's move from Chelsea to West Ham in 2021.

Former Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia is set to make a rare public appearance on Tuesday in the trial that sees football agent Saif Rubie accused of sending her a threatening email. The Russian football administrator, a central figure at Chelsea under former owner Roman Abramovich, received an email from Rubie in which he is alleged to have demanded payment for his role in Kurt Zouma's move from Chelsea to West Ham in 2021. She attended Southwark Crown Court on Monday as the trial started but wasn't require to take the stand. However, Granovskaia, who rarely made public appearances during her time with Chelsea, is expected to give evidence on Tuesday.

Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem have been given an 18-point deduction due to licensing issues on Friday and will be relegated from the Eredivisie. The KNVB, the governing body of Dutch football, imposed the deduction after investigators found that the club persistently fell short of meeting the requirements of licensing regulations over an extended period. Furthermore, according to The Guardian, the licensing committee concluded that there were 'indications' that former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich had controlled - or still controlled - Vitesse.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: It's not yet 6am on a cold Saturday in Glasgow and the gym at the Hilton on William Street is deserted, except for one of the most powerful men in sport. As ever, Sebastian Coe is running. Running is what he did and running is what he does. He ran laps and he ran politicians. He ran the London Olympics and he runs a sport. And this March morning, like every morning, he is running on a treadmill. 'Cheaper than buying a larger suit each year,' Coe says, and he doesn't know if this will be another one of those days where 'the walls come crashing down'. But he tends to start them the same way; a consistency in a life that has never been ordinary.

EXCLUSIVE BY MIKE KEEGAN: The £2.5billion promised to Ukrainian war victims following the sale of Chelsea remains stuck in a bank account, with fears growing that it may take years - and even an act of Parliament - before funds can be released. As part of the forced transaction which took the Stamford Bridge club out of Roman Abramovich's hands and into the control of a US-based consortium two years ago following Russia's invasion of its neighbour, the staggering sum was set aside for victims of the conflict. However, Mail Sport understands that it remains in a London bank account, albeit gathering 'sizeable' interest.

The consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, which bought the club in May 2022, offloaded two hotels near the ground and generated £75.6million income. The bombshell disclosure was made in the club's accounts, released today, which revealed that they lost £248.5m over the financial year ending June of last year. These staggering losses were reduced to £90.1m after taxation when the hotel sales and other adjustments were taken into consideration, the club stated. According to The Telegraph, the income from the lucrative sale of the two properties would crucially be compliant with Profit and Sustainability Rules.

Shaun Pinner's lawyers filed a suit to a judge in Solomyanskiy District Court in Kyiv in October, claiming that Russia owes him money for the way he was treated while a prisoner of war. He was captured by Russian forces during the siege of Mariupol in April 2022. Pinner said he was brutally beaten, electrocuted and starved by his captors over five months in captivity - treatment he said infringed his human rights and entitled him to compensation. The Kyiv court today ruled in his favour, accepting he was inhumanely treated and ruling that the Russian Federation must compensate him accordingly.Moscow is expected to ignore the ruling, but the case could set a precedent for more POWs to lodge complaints against Russia - and Pinner said he intends to continue pursuing his case in British courts.

Chelsea will not be able to break ground a potential redevelopment of Stamford Bridge until at least 2027, according to reports. Wednesday saw the completion of the club's purchase of the Sir Oswald Stoll Mansions just over six months after agreeing the £80million sale with the charity in October of last year. The buildings currently house 100 military veterans, and negotiations over the sale have been ongoing due to concerns from the residents over where they will move to should the deal go through. 

MIKE KEEGAN: Rumours of a split in Chelsea's American powerbase have swirled around Stamford Bridge for months, with club executives strongly condemning it. Chelsea will appoint a new chairman to replace under fire Todd Boehly in 2027, according to a Mail Sport exclusive, but it will do nothing to discredit them. The truth is that, despite Boehly's extraordinary deal with majority owners Clearlake Capital, a switch five years after the takeover was never expected to happen.

MATT HUGHES and KIERAN GILL: Millions of pounds in fees, including a payment to Eden Hazard's agent, were discovered last year as part of a cache of leaked documents labelled as Cyprus International. According to The Guardian, the papers reveal that Granovskaia was aware of the compensation received by Hazard's agent, John Bico, as well as fees related to Willian and Samuel Eto'o's removal to Chelsea. Offshore companies connected to Abramovich also offered personal loans to Granovskaia worth £7.5 million to buy a house in Fulham, as well as a £1.63 million payment for "financial, tax, and legal diligence," according to the newspaper.

Since Todd Boehly's team took over the club for £4.25 billion, the Blues have had two miserable seasons on the pitch. Despite spending more than £1 billion since the summer of 2022, the Blues face the possibility of finishing in the bottom half of the Premier League for the second season in a row. In a 1,500 word letter, the Chelsea Supporters' Trust warned co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali about the likelihood for fan demonstrations.

SIMON JORDAN: Financial control, such as it is, may lead to the demise of the Premier League if we are not careful. If we've gotten to the point where you can't believe the table until the accountants and lawyers have ruled, the excitement of the competition has descended on us. VAR, another so-called innovation, is another prime example of a good idea being mishandled. We can't believe the league table until a group of faceless attorneys have spent months in tribunals, in the same way that we can no longer properly honor goals until the traffic wardens of the referee fraternity have approved them. With all this mess, football is in danger of killing itself. If the game goes down, these road viewing numbers and excitement may decrease, and the game will then be facing an existential threat. We have to be extremely cautious with what we're doing to our game here.

YSAMI MOKBEL: Chelsea face the possibility of having to reveal the specifics of the suspected corrupt financial transactions that marred the Roman Abramovich period. Agent Saif Rubie's application under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act, which pertains to the disclosure of pertinent information relating to a defendant's case, has been confirmed by Mail Sport by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Chelsea's net income by selling ten players with the Blues could reach a dramatic peak this summer as they continue to comply with the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Guidelines (PSR). In the first full year under Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital's ownership, the club reported a tax loss of £90.1 million last week. Chelsea FC Holdings Limited's accounts showed the loss for the 12-month cycle until June 30, 2023.

Chelsea has revealed a pre-tax loss of £90.1 million in the first full year under the club's new ownership. Chelsea's parent company's accounts revealed the loss for the 12-month period until June 30, 2023. Chelsea lost £121.4 million in the previous year, which the club attributed to sanctions imposed on the club's former owner Roman Abramovich.

Chelsea is in the midst of a traumatic crisis over the latest stadium proposals. According to The Sun, blues bosses believe they have only two choices: spend six years away from Stamford Bridge while it is rebuilt, or pay the odds to buy property nearby for a new stadium. Embarray has also been expressed at the lack of change under the new owners.

The Premier League continues to be the best league in the country, and it does not deny being the richest league as well. The 20 clubs in Attracting capital from around the world, even if only one of them lifts the trophy every season. England's top 20 clubs, which are able to recruit the best talent, sell-out audiences at home and international exposure. Following his £1.3 billion investment at Old Trafford, Manchester United's new part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe slipped just behind Arsenal chief Stan Kroenke on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on Tuesday. But which of the Premier League clubs actually has the wealthiest owners?

KIERAN GILL AT THE GTECHCOMMUNITY STADIUM: Mauricio Pochettino isn't about to line up with a blindfold and cigarette to accept his fate. Chelsea's boss survived on a bulletproof vest on Saturday night, encouraging his followers to bring their barrage of snipes after the trip to Brentford became traumatic. Even if the supporters were cheering for him to 'f*** off' at the Gtech Community Stadium, Pochettino maintained after a humiliating draw that he would never resign. While cheering Roman Abramovich and Jose Mourinho, the symbols of an era dripping in so much silverware that hopes are much higher than their midtable mediocrity of the previous 18 months.

During a tense 2-2 draw against Brentford in a West London derby on Saturday, Chelsea supporters sung an expletive-ridden chant in the direction of their owner. The Blues of Mauritio Pochettino currently sits in 11th place in the Premier League, and they have continued to lose points in their quest to reach the European positions. In the 35th minute, Nicolas Jackson led the visitors, but Brentford's two goals put them in front with 20 minutes to play before Axel Disasi took a point for Chelsea in the 83rd minute.