According to NRC and Trouw’s research, Vitesse’s Russian owner, Valeri Ojf, actually borrowed millions from his compatriot Roman Abramovich. Ojf had previously denied to the KNVB football association that it had received money from Chelsea’s former owner.
This news could hurt Vitesse. The Guardian had previously revealed that Abramovich was secretly financing Vitesse. It is said that he did this while he was also the owner of Chelsea. And this is prohibited due to conflict of interest.
two credits
Ojf told the two newspapers that its own company, Matteson Overseas, and Sonora Capital Investments, owned by Ambramovich, signed a ten-million-dollar (about 9 million euro) loan agreement in August 2020, including $2.9 million (2.6 million euros). He confirmed that he signed it. Euro). It was used and paid back a month later.
According to OJF, the money was not used to finance Vitesse but was necessary for “liquidity reasons.” It is not clear exactly what is meant by this.
This was not the only loan the Russians received regarding Abramovich. Ojf also borrowed twenty million dollars (about 18 million euros) from Matteson Overseas and Heathville Investments in 2019. This is a company owned by Chelsea’s then manager, Eugene Tenenbaum. Abramovich was the owner of the London club at the time.
According to OJF, 7 million euros of this was used and refunded. This money would not be used for the club from Arnhem.
“Abramovich considered Vitesse his club”
Although Abramovich was prohibited from owning two clubs, Abramovich considered Vitesse to be his own club, journalists learned.
In 2011, Abramovich’s company, Leiston Holdings Limited, and Israeli actor representative Pini Zahavi signed an agreement. In this contract, it was agreed that Zahavi would look for players that Abramovich’s company could buy. If these players were resold for a profit, they would split the proceeds.
However, there was an exception to the contract. “Special arrangements regarding Chelsea Football Club and Vitesse FC”. If the players are sold to one of these two clubs, Zahavi will receive a transfer fee, the amount of which will be determined by Abramovich, but not half.
“I have never had any influence on politics”
Vitesse said on its website that it was never aware of any potential deal in which Abramovich would be directly or indirectly involved. “Vitesse has never been subject to any influence from Mr Abramovich on its policies. “This is also the sincere statement of the former club managers.”
After the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine, OJF stated that it wanted to leave Vitesse. The Arnhem club is therefore in a long takeover process. The American Joint Group wants to take over the Arnhem Club.
Vitesse director Peter Rovers therefore hopes to quickly break away from his Russian past. “Even though we are not involved and can no longer change the past, we continue to suffer from it right now. We have been trying to separate ourselves from the Russians since Russia invaded Ukraine and the withdrawal of major shareholder Oyf. “If this can finally be achieved in the short term, it will benefit us greatly in many areas.”
KNVB wants to see documents
In response to the NRC and Trouw, the KNVB said it was unaware of the contracts between Abramovich and Ojf. However, I would also like to see documents regarding the planned acquisition. “The KNVB considers it very important that the licensing committee receives the documents.”
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
