Abramovich ‘a close ally of Putin’, agent tells court
Roman Abramovich, the former Chelsea owner, was described as a “close ally of Vladimir Putin” by football agent Saif Alrubie in court yesterday.
Alrubie was being questioned in his trial at Southwark Crown Court for allegedly sending former Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia a malicious email. During his crossexamination by prosecutor Arizuna Asante, Alrubie was told by Judge David Tomlinson to stop being “so confrontational and unnecessary”.
Alrubie had said on Wednesday it would have been a “suicide mission” to threaten Granovskaia, who he described as “the right hand of Abramovich”. Yesterday, he again referenced Abramovich, saying: “He is a close ally of Vladimir Putin, sanctioned by the UK government.”
When the judge told the jury that Abramovich and other Russian oligarchs had been sanctioned by the Government and were unable to return to the UK, Alrubie said: “By some chance, she [Granovskaia] is the only one who stayed.”
In his email to Granovskaia, who worked for Abramovich at Chelsea, Alrubie had said: “Feel free to go to your boss who’s had his recent problems and tell him that you have a big problem with me as long as you tell him the truth about your behaviour.”
Alrubie received a number of warnings during his questioning by Asante. In one exchange, Tomlinson said to Alrubie: “Stop, stop, stop. Listen to the question and answer it.”
Alrubie has pleaded not guilty to threatening Granovskaia with the intention of causing distress or anxiety. Quoting his statement given to police, Asante asked if he had been “f----d off ” when sending the email, to which Alrubie replied: “Excuse your French, but yeah.” Asante said: “More your French than mine.”
Alrubie said Granovskaia was “a liar” more than once in answer to questions and said she and football agent Kia Joorabchian, who the court heard flew to the United States on Monday night, “both conspired”. Earlier this week, the jury were told by Asante that Joorabchian was allegedly confronted in a restaurant by people acting for Alrubie, who took his watch and refused to return it until a payment was made later.
Alrubie believes he is owed £300,000 in commission from the £29.1 million transfer of Kurt Zouma from West Ham United to Chelsea in 2021, which is what prompted his email.