SILENCE IN THE BOARDROOM!
Roman Abramovich has four key lieutenants on the Chelsea board and none has spoken in public since the invasion of Ukraine, leaving manager Thomas Tuchel to field questions.
BRUCE BUCK, Chairman
The New Yorker first met Abramovich through his work as a European-based lawyer specialising in mergers and acquisitions. Buck advised on Abramovich’s takeover of Chelsea in 2003 and was appointed club chairman a year later. Also on the charitable trust to whom Abramovich has ceded the running of the club.
What he says: ‘Roman isn’t very big on going to black tie dinners and things like that. He tends to hang around with people he’s known since his twenties, and they tend to be his Russian friends.’
GUY LAURENCE, Chief executive
Mancunian and former Vodafone CEO who joined the club in 2018. Credited with bringing in the £120m shirt sponsorship with mobile provider Three, but much of Laurence’s hard work improving the commercial operation is being quickly compromised by the fallout from the Government sanctions. What they say: Low profile but reportedly a formidable operator, Laurence was described as the ‘British Tony Soprano’ by a newspaper in Canada, where he previously worked. Also said to have beaten Bruce Willis in an arm wrestle.
EUGENE TENENBAUM, Director
Abramovich’s right-hand man and an advisor since his pre-Chelsea days. Born in Soviet-era Ukraine, Tenenbaum is also a director of Evraz, the mining and steel company in which Abramovich was a major shareholder until last month. Its material is said to have been used in Russian tanks.
What he says: ‘Roman likes to figure things out. I think the reason why he loves football after all of these years is that it’s not a formula. It’s not an algorithm. People find it exhilarating because you can’t control it.’
MARINA GRANOVSKAIA, Director
Worked with Abramovich at the Russian oil company Sibneft before following him to Stamford Bridge. Also a key advisor, Granovskaia’s chief responsibility is player transfers as well as staff recruitment. An awards ceremony run by Italian newspaper Tuttosport named her European football’s best club director in December.
What they say: ‘I’ve got so much respect for Marina,’ Dick Law, Arsenal’s former sporting director, said of Granovskaia. ‘She’s always been a straight shooter.’