Roman Abramovich SECRETLY funded the takeover and running of a Dutch club while he was Chelsea owner

Roman Abramovich secretly financed the acquisition and operation of a Dutch club while also owning Chelsea, according to leaked documents.

Data contained in the Oligarch Files, a leaked data dossier, appears to reveal that Abramovich was behind the acquisition of Vitesse Arnhem and spending via loans totaling at least £102.8m at the end of 2015, and the Chelsea’s connection to the Eredivisie side extended far beyond loans. players like Mason Mount, Nemanja Matic and Armando Broja.

A company called Marindale Trading, owned by an associate of Abramovich Alexander Chigirinsky, helped finance a 2010 takeover of Vitesse by Merab Jordania, also a friend of the Chelsea owner, according to The Guardian.

And the payments to Marindale for the purchase, including additional follow-on loans, according to the files, appear to be traceable to Abramovich.

At the time of the first Vitesse acquisition, Jordan insisted that Abramovich was not involved.

Chelsea and England midfielder Mason Mount spent the 2017-18 campaign on loan at Vitesse

After Chelsea began loaning players to Vitesse, doubts over the links resurfaced once again when Chigirinsky took full control in 2013 and it emerged that he had been involved since the initial takeover.

Jordan later suggested that Chelsea were preventing Vitesse from making a Champions League push (UEFA rules state that clubs must be “independently owned and managed” in their competitions), although they later retracted the affirmations.

Encouraged by Eredivisie clubs upset by Vitesse’s association with Chelsea, the Dutch FA (KNVB) twice investigated but could find no evidence of a financial connection or managerial influence to Abramovich, who was forced to sell Chelsea last year. after being sanctioned by the UK. Government.

Chelsea loaned 29 players in total to Vitesse. The technical staff of both clubs also knew each other well, ensuring that the Blues not only stationed their young players in the Netherlands, but were able to pay more attention to their development than a usual loan.

Although it was always maintained that they had a close relationship with Vitesse as they had with other clubs.

Chelsea, now under new ownership, and Abramovich’s lawyer declined to comment. The KNVB was also contacted for comment, while UEFA was satisfied that the situation did not need to be reviewed as the two clubs were not playing in the same competition.

Vitesse said in a statement: “Vitesse was not aware of the manner in which this company [Marindale] was financed Vitesse itself has not had any loan agreement.’

Blues striker Armando Broja also spent a season on loan at Vitesse during 2020-2021