The courtroom battle between former Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia and football agent Saif Alrubie is poised to enter its second round in London on Friday.
Having last year been found not guilty at Southwark Crown Court of sending a threatening email to Granovskaia, Alrubie is pursuing a multi-million claim against her for money that he believes he is owed over the transfer of Kurt Zouma, having initially demanded £300,000.
A High Court hearing scheduled to start at the Rolls Building in central London on Friday will determine whether Alrubie’s claim will be heard publicly in the High Court or will go to a private Football Association arbitration.
Alrubie had initially filed a lawsuit against Granovskaia and Chelsea, but dropped his claim against the club, who successfully argued it had been lodged incorrectly.
After being found not guilty last year of malicious communications sent to Granovskaia, Alrubie indicated that he was owed “10 times” the £300,000 commission he had initially demanded over the Zouma transfer to West Ham United in August 2021.
The jury heard at last April’s trial that Alrubie worked on the understanding that, as an intermediary on the deal, he would receive a commission on any fee received of more than €30 million.
He later told Talksport: “The £300,000 was actually an amount that I was willing to accept when I didn’t know all of the facts and the truth of the transfer fee was hidden away from me.
“The judge in the trial established all of the facts, thank God. The law of the land is above any law and I’m just glad that that has vindicated everything that I’ve had to go through and the facts were black and white.”
Pressed on whether he would be pursuing millions of pounds, he replied: “Like I said, my lawyers will be dealing with that plus the interest, plus the rest.”
There has been no comment from Granovskaia over Alrubie’s claim against her, although it is understood she has received messages of support from a number of Premier League owners and agents.
After appearing as a witness in the case in which Alrubie was cleared of sending her a threatening email, Granovskaia issued a statement that said: “Coming to court to give evidence in the Crown’s case against Mr Alrubie was an extremely difficult decision. I am an intensely private person, but I was willing to do my part to ensure that no one else – particularly no woman – was ever made to feel as I did upon receiving his email, a feeling this trial has revived.
“I was also minded to testify as I received messages of support from colleagues and associates in football following news of Mr Alrubie’s arrest, including some who have had dealings with him over the years.”
Alrubie’s email was sent in May 2022, just before Granovskaia was put on gardening leave by Chelsea following the takeover of the club. He was arrested at Heathrow upon his arrival on a flight from Brussels in September 2022.
Granovskaia’s statement added: “There are things I miss about football: my colleagues and counterparts, including some wonderful and decent agents; the players; the spirit of Chelsea; and, of course, winning trophies. One thing I do not miss is the difficult and ugly side of football. I will not be making any further comment.”
The email sent by Alrubie, dated May 22, 2022, was in relation to Zouma’s move from Chelsea to West Ham in August 2021 for £29.1 million, £4.1 million of which went to the defender as a severance payment, and Alrubie’s claim is that he and his associates were owed £300,000 in commission.
In the email to Granovskaia, Alrubie said: “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 ended up paying it. Wouldn’t want you to be in the same situation just because you have a personal issue with me.”
Joorabchian flew to America on a private jet the night before he was due to give evidence last April and the court was told that he was described as a “degenerate gambler” by Alrubie.
Speaking as a witness, Alrubie told his defence barrister: “I don’t think I would be stupid enough to be threatening anybody let alone somebody with the might of Roman Abramovich [behind them]. That would just be me on a suicide mission. I’m not that stupid.”
Alrubie later added: “He [Abramovich] is a close ally of Vladimir Putin, sanctioned by the UK government.” The reference was described to the jury as “cartoonish” by the prosecutor.
A spokesperson for Alrubie had initially responded to Chelsea’s application for his lawsuit against the club to be thrown out by saying: “Chelsea and Ms Granovskaia have a clear interest in preventing Mr Rubie’s claim from being heard in open court given current investigations into the club and its activities under its previous ownership.”
Alrubie’s spokesperson later said: “We have discontinued our High Court action against Chelsea and continue to pursue Miss Granovskaia for her primary role in the breach of contract.”
