Marina Granovskaia has described how she felt ‘physically threatened’ and how her personal safety was heightened after an email from football agent Saif Alrubie while giving evidence at his trial at Southwark Crown Court.
In her first public appearance since leaving her position as Chelsea’s “director of football” almost two years ago and speaking for the first time about her work at the club, Granovskaia was called as a witness in Alrubie’s trial, in which he is being prosecuted. accused of sending a allegedly threatening email, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
The email sent by Alrubie, dated May 22, 2022, related to Kurt Zouma’s move from Chelsea to West Ham United in August 2021 for £29.1 million, of which £4.1 million went to the defender as severance pay, and Alrubie’s claim that he and his associates were owed £300,000 in commission.
In court, prosecutor Arizuna Asante read Alrubie’s email to Granovskaia to the jury. In it, Alrubie said: “I was with Pini [Zahavi] recently in Dubai and he told me that you had agreed to pay me [and my two partners on that deal] 300,000 GPB for West Ham’s offer for Kurt Zouma. However, Pini told me that you said you would pay me that money from other things in the future, which indicated [Antonio] Ruediger.
“As you clearly know from the moment I offered you the opportunity to extend Antonio’s contract for an additional year at the same salary, and you refused and started playing games. You went to Sahr [Senesie, an agent of Rudiger] and started making up lies about me and HMRC about why you didn’t want to deal with me. That alone was defamatory and cost me a lot of business and trust because of your lies.”
The email added: “Then the way you were with me was finally confirmed when I was in Abu Dhabi for the Club World Cup when I went to visit Antonio and he told me that you had approached him asking why he was friends with me and was happy to hang out with me. Who do you think you are, going to the players like this and talking nonsense about me? What have I done to you to make you so bitter and horrible to me? Therefore, I am giving you the opportunity to make things right if you apologize for your behavior toward me.
“If you don’t, I promise I will make you pay for the way you’ve been with me, personally and professionally. This isn’t a threat, so take it however you want. This is a promise I make to anyone who fucks/attempts to fuck me, in anything in life. I’m pretty sure you would never approach Lukaku and tell him why he is with him [Federico] Pastorello [Romelu Lukaku’s former agent] your special friend.
“In summary, you owe me and my partners 300,000, which must be paid as soon as possible. If Chelsea doesn’t pay it, you have to pay that debt. I’m done being nice to you. And feel free to go to your boss who has had his recent problems and tell him you have a big problem with me, as long as you tell him the truth about your behavior. Because in life you can’t be wrong and strong.
“I look forward to hearing from you on the above matters and hopefully I’ll have a quick resolution to them, otherwise I guess I’ll see you when I see you. I’m sure you’ve heard the story about your other friend Kia [Joorabchian] when he owed me money for a year and how he finally paid it. I wouldn’t want you to end up in the same situation just because you have a personal problem with me.”
When asked under oath how the email made her feel, Granovskaia replied: “Very uncomfortable would be an understatement. I felt physically threatened because of the language and the fact that it was made personal, and referred to an incident involving Kia.”
Granovskaia later confirmed that her personal security had been increased after the email, adding: “I felt very nervous and threatened that I would have to deal with people demanding some money from me. After reporting this issue, my security arrangements have changed.”
The jury was told by Mr Asante that officer Kia Joorabchian was allegedly confronted at a restaurant by people acting on Alrubie’s behalf, who took his watch and refused to give it back until payment was made later, when about twelve men were on his office showed up and told him to do it. pay in bundles.
When asked by Mr Asante if she was aware of an incident involving Joorabchian, Granovskaia replied: “Yes, I remember hearing something about it.”
When it was put to Granovskaia that her knowledge of the incident made her feel threatened, she added: “That’s right.”
As well as describing her response to the email, Granovskaia explained how she moved from Moscow to London in 2004 after Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea and began working in personal wealth management and ‘back office administration’ at Stamford Bridge.
Granovskaia told the court: “I was often around what was going on, and then he was [Abramovich] started asking about certain things and my opinion. From commercial activities and catering to at some point match day activity, then player transfers and player activity.
It was in 2010 that Granovskaia said she started acting for Abramovich on transfers, which led to her taking over that department, and she said: “Then it seemed logical to give me the official position. [of director in charge of transfers] in 2012.
“I was in charge of almost everything that had to do with football. “Everyone associated with football reported to me, including the medical staff, and I was responsible for the majority of player contracts, buying and selling of players.”
Under cross-examination by defense attorney Matthew Radstone, Granovskaia denied telling Zahavi that she had agreed to pay Alrubie and his partners. She also denied wrongdoing Alrubie to former Chelsea player Rudiger and disagreed with Radstone’s claim that she had turned down an attractive offer to extend the defender’s contract.
‘It wasn’t that [attractive]”, said Granovskaia. “We were not interested in a one-year extension. I believe those conversations took place during discussions about Rudiger being loaned out a year or two earlier. The proposal to extend a year and let him go out on loan was not attractive as he would have come back [to Chelsea] with one year left on his contract.”
Asked about the nature of her relationships with Joorabchian and Pastorello, Granovskaia said both were “professional” and “friendship” and did not go beyond that.
The case continues.