- Officer Saif Rubie is accused of sending Marina Granovskaia a threatening email
- Executive left the club after the 2022 takeover by the Todd Boehly-led consortium
- Phil Foden reveals what it’s REALLY like to play for Pep Guardiola in an It’s All Kicking Off special. Listen on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts
Football agent Saif Rubie has denied deliberately threatening then Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia. According to the court, this would have been a ‘suicide mission’.
On a dramatic day at Southwark Crown Court, Rubie, who is accused of sending a threatening email to Granovskaia in his attempts to recover 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 for the former Blues supremo, saying this would amount to a ‘suicide mission’ given her links to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, previous owner from Stamford Bridge.
Rubie claimed: “I am sending an email to a woman who is the right-hand man of Roman Abramovich, one of the largest Russian businessmen in the world. I’m just Saif Rubie… I’m a small cop.
“I don’t think I would be stupid enough to threaten anyone, let alone someone with the power of Roman Abramovich (behind them). That would just be me on a suicide mission. I’m not that stupid.’
Rubie, 45, also revealed to the court that he has filed a civil case against Granovskaia for breach of contract.
Football agent Saif Rubie is said to have demanded payment for his role in Kurt Zouma’s transfer to the Hammers
On Tuesday, former Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said she felt ‘physically threatened’ by Rubie’s email
Kurt Zouma’s £29.1m move to West Ham from Chelsea in 2021 is at the center of the trial
Granovskaia said Tuesday that she felt “physically threatened” by Rubie’s email, in which he referred to an incident involving fellow officer Kia Joorabchian when his watch was allegedly confiscated by Rubie’s employees due to payment issues.
However, the agreed facts of the case read in court by prosecutor Arizuna Asante on Wednesday revealed that police found no connection between that incident and that Rubie said Joorabchian never mentioned Rubie’s name at the time. Rubie’s name does not appear in the crime report.
In another intriguing development, it was confirmed yesterday that Joorabchian, who was due to testify at the trial, would not be present as he had flown to America. Joorabchian also told police he was not feeling well.