Chelsea will apply for football agent Saif Alrubie’s multi-million-pound lawsuit against the club to be thrown out of court.
Alrubie filed the claim with the London Circuit Commercial Court against Chelsea and the club’s former director Marina Granovskia more than four months after being found not guilty at Southwark Crown Court of sending a threatening email.
But Chelsea believe the claim has been filed incorrectly and will apply for the court proceedings to be moved to arbitration under Football Association rules.
The FA’s agent regulations state that ‘any dispute as between an authorised agent, player and/or club in relation to a matter within the scope of these regulations, including any agency activity, shall be dealt with as between the parties under Rule K (Arbitration) of the rules of the Association’.
Alrubie is said to remain confident the claim will be heard at court with a spokesman for him saying: “Chelsea and Ms Granovskaia have a clear interest in preventing [Alrubie’s] claim from being heard in open court given current investigations into the club and its activities under its previous ownership.”
After filing his lawsuit against Chelsea and Granovskaia, Alrubie had said in a statement that the club’s co-owners, Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly, should “right this wrong” over fees he claims are owed to him over the sale of defender Kurt Zouma to West Ham United in August 2021.
Alrubie said: “The last two-and-a-half years have been incredibly difficult. As a fan of Chelsea FC, and having had a productive business relationship with the club over a number of years, I am saddened that I have been forced to take this step.
“It’s my sincere hope that we will be able to reach a resolution to this issue that is long overdue. I am hopeful that Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali, and Chelsea FC will take the action necessary to right this wrong and close this chapter so that all parties can move on.”
Alrubie indicated after his acquittal that he was owed “10 times” the £300,000 commission he had initially demanded from Chelsea and Granovskaia over the Zouma transfer, which his attempts to recoup landed him in court.
The jury heard at April’s trial that Alrubie worked on the understanding that, as an intermediary on the deal, he would receive a commission on any fee received of more than €30 million.
He later told talkSPORT: “The £300,000 was actually an amount that I was willing to accept when I didn’t know all of the facts and the truth of the transfer fee was hidden away from me.
“The judge in the trial established all of the facts, thank God. The law of the land is above any law and I’m just glad that that has vindicated everything that I’ve had to go through and the facts were black and white.”
Pressed on whether he would be pursuing millions of pounds, he replied: “Like I said, my lawyers will be dealing with that plus the interest, plus the rest.”
There has been no comment from Granovskaia over Alrubie’s claim against her and Chelsea, although it is understood she has received messages of support from Premier League owners and agents.
After appearing as a witness in the case in which Alrubie was cleared of sending her a threatening email, Granovskaia issued a statement that said: “Coming to court to give evidence in the Crown’s case against Mr Alrubie was an extremely difficult decision. I am an intensely private person, but I was willing to do my part to ensure that no one else – particularly no woman – was ever made to feel as I did upon receiving his email, a feeling this trial has revived.
“I was also minded to testify as I received messages of support from colleagues and associates in football following news of Mr Alrubie’s arrest, including some who have had dealings with him over the years.”
Alrubie’s email was sent in May 2022, just before Granovskaia was put on gardening leave by Chelsea following the takeover of the club. He was arrested at Heathrow upon his arrival on a flight from Brussels in Sept 2022.
Granovskaia’s statement added: “There are things I miss about football: my colleagues and counterparts, including some wonderful and decent agents; the players; the spirit of Chelsea; and, of course, winning trophies. One thing I do not miss is the difficult and ugly side of football. I will not be making any further comment.”
The email sent by Alrubie, dated May 22, 2022, was in relation to Zouma’s move from Chelsea to West Ham in August 2021 for £29.1m, £4.1m of which went to the defender as a severance payment, and Alrubie’s claim that he and his associates were owed £300,000 in commission.
In the email to Granovskaia, Alrubie said: “I’m sure you’ve heard the story about your other friend Kia [Joorabchian] when he owed me money for a year and how he ended up paying it. Wouldn’t want you to be in the same situation just because you have a personal issue with me.”
