Abramovich's secret €100m Dutch club revealed

Imre Himmelbauer

• 29 Mar 2023 15:19 BST
• 3 min read

Roman Abramovich loaned more than €117 million to Vitesse over the years, according to research by The Guardian .

The KNVB twice investigated alleged ties between the former owner of Chelsea and the club from Arnhem, but was unable to prove that there were financial ties or that Abramovich influenced which manager was appointed in the GelreDome.

Mareb Jordania took over the Gelderland club in 2010 and sold it again in 2013 to Alexander Chigirinsky, who had been financially involved with the club since the takeover of Jordania.

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Chigirinsky's companies appear to have played a crucial role in the process. Two of Abramovich's companies in the British Virgin Islands have been found to have lent money to two companies associated with Chriginsky. Those companies then loaned the money to Marindale Trading, which had financed the Jordania acquisition.

Ultimately, €117 million were lent to Vitesse through the various tax havens until the end of 2015. That is a huge sum for the Arnhem club. The Guardian notes that Vitesse's budget for the 2014/15 season was around €14m. The net turnover of the club in 2021/22 was €23.6m.

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In conversation with the newspaper, Jordania confirms that Abramovich and Chigirinsky lent him money.

"It was my personal project and they supported me a lot when I bought the club. Sometimes I didn't have enough money and I also used my friends' money, especially Abramovich and Chigirinsky's," he admitted.

In May 2018, Valeriy Oyf took over from Chigirinsky as owner of Vitesse. He too has ties to Abramovich. After all, the 58-year-old Russian held sway for a period at Millhouse Capital, the firm that manages Abramovich's assets. In March 2022, it was announced that he wanted to sell the club again. In September, American Coley Parry was put forward as the new owner, but the KNVB has not yet approved the takeover.

Vitesse is also involved in a long-running conflict over the use of the GelreDome stadium. It was recently announced that the conflict is threatening to spiral out of control. The team from Arnhem has so far failed to conclude a new lease with stadium owner Michael van de Kuit and could be without a stadium next season. The KNVB has threatened to withdraw their professional license in this instance.