Revealed: The email that left Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea chief Marina Granovskaia, ‘football’s most powerful woman’, feeling ‘physically threatened’ in agent row over £300,000 transfer payments

Marina Granovskaia felt ‘physically threatened’ by an email sent to her by football agent Saif Rubie, a court heard today.

Speaking for the first time since leaving Chelsea in 2022, Granovskaia – formerly Chelsea director – described her fears after receiving an email from Rubie demanding money he believed he was owed over the deal that saw Kurt Zouma Stamford Bridge left for West Ham.

Granovskaia gave testimony in court Tuesday morning and was asked by prosecutor Arizuna Asante how she felt when she received the email.

She replied, “Very uncomfortable would be an understatement. I felt physically threatened because the language made it personal because he was referring to the Kia [Joorabchian] incident.’

Earlier in the day, Mr Asante told the court that Mr Joorabchian was confronted at a restaurant by people acting for defendant Rubie, who saw Joorabchian take his watch from him and told it would not be returned until a payment was made later done.

Rubie is accused of sending a threatening email and violating the Malicious Communications Act

Kurt Zouma’s £29.1m move to West Ham from Chelsea in 2021 is at the center of the trial

It added that about a dozen men showed up at Joorabchian’s office and started intimidating him and demanding money from him, saying the defendant wanted his money.

The email Rubie allegedly sent to Granovskaia read: ‘At the end of a very unique season for you and Chelsea it comes to an end. I am writing to you to address the outstanding issues that we have between us over the past two years.

‘I will try to keep this email as short and to the point as possible.

‘I was with Pini [Zahavi] (an agent) 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 presenting 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 hinted [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) 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 truth is that I should not have associated with you from then on, but I am a gentleman and thought you would be right and because of my close personal relationships with Sahr and his brother and family and major business I do with them Outside of football, I had no intention of making an issue of your slander against me, even though you have done your best to banish me from the businesses I work very hard for and have never done anything wrong over the years, but it seems like you have a problem with me.

Rubie is said to have demanded payment for his role in Zouma’s transfer to the Hammers

Granovskaia – a key figure in the Roman Abramovich era who left her role at Chelsea in 2022 – felt ‘physically threatened and very uncomfortable’ by the email

The threatening email also contained a reference to Antonio Rudiger’s departure from Chelsea in 2022

“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 liked wanted to deal with me. with me.

‘Who do you think, going to the players like this and talking rubbish 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 tries to screw me in anything in life. I’m pretty sure you would never approach Lukaku and tell him why he is with him [Federico] Pastorello, 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.

Prosecutors also referred to an incident in which football agent Kia Joorabchian (left) was confronted in a restaurant by people acting on behalf of defendant Rubie, claiming he was owed money.

Zouma spent seven years at Chelsea, making 151 appearances in all competitions for the Blues

‘I look forward to hearing from you about 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, when he owed me money for a year and how he finally paid it off. I wouldn’t want you to end up in the same situation just because you have a personal problem with me.’

Rubie is accused of violating the Malicious Communications Act by sending a threatening email to Granovskaia. Rubie denies the accusation.

The process continues.