A onetime top lieutenant to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich would face an investigation from soccer authorities in Britain should she return to the sport after leading his all-conquering soccer team for much of a yearslong cheating scandal.
Marina Granovskaia, a Russian Canadian business executive, was handpicked by Mr. Abramovich to oversee Chelsea, which became one of the world’s biggest soccer clubs during his almost two-decade run as the team owner. He was forced to sell the club by the British government after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Premier League, the richest, most-watched soccer league in the world, earlier this week released a report that outlined the details of various schemes involving off-the-books payments to players, soccer agents and other officials during Mr. Abramovich’s tenure. The sprawling case of wrongdoing, which also includes multiple breaches of guidelines on youth recruitment and secret spending on players registered to other teams, is one of the biggest in soccer history.
Ms. Granovskaia left the club once it was sold to a group of American-led investors in 2022. The Premier League said none of the former officials tied to the investigation cooperated with its inquiry, which was based on internal documents discovered and shared by the new owners with the league. It did not publicly name the individuals in its report.
As someone who is outside of the soccer world, Ms. Granovskaia could not be compelled to provide evidence to inquiries by various soccer bodies into Chelsea’s conduct.
But Ms. Granovskaia, 51, has been seeking to be licensed as a soccer agent, which would trigger an investigation into her role while she was at Chelsea, according to two people familiar with the matter. England’s soccer federation would be the organization handling the case. It has opened a separate investigation into Chelsea after charging the club with 74 breaches of its regulations.
The federation has broader powers than the league and can investigate many individuals including agents and officials, so long as they are in the soccer industry. Those found to be in breach of regulations can face multiple penalties, including prohibitions from working in soccer.
Ms. Granovskaia declined to comment, and the English soccer federation said it could not comment on specific cases.
Ms. Granovskaia’s unlikely ascent to the top echelons of European club soccer prompted The Times of London to describe her as the “the most powerful woman in football.”
She began working as a personal assistant for Mr. Abramovich during the 1990s at Sibneft, an oil company he acquired during the chaotic era of privatization of former state-owned assets after the fall of the Soviet Union. She was a trusted aide when he bought Chelsea in 2003, representing him at club board meetings before becoming one of the most powerful directors in 2013. Ms. Granovskaia’s responsibilities included overseeing player contracts and trades, including many identified by the investigation.
The Premier League on Monday announced Chelsea would pay an about $14 million fine, the biggest in the competition’s history. It looked into how Mr. Abramovich took Chelsea from a middling club to one of the biggest in world soccer, winning five league titles and two European Champions League titles.
The league’s three-year investigation, which involved poring through thousands of internal documents, found that the club had made about $66 million in secret payments to players, agents and others.
Chelsea’s eventual owners discovered some of the misconduct during a due diligence process before buying the club in 2022 for about $3 billion. They then alerted the league, prompting its investigation.
The team had already been fined about $35 million by European soccer’s governing body and was awaiting the results of an inquiry by the English Football Association, which does not have provisions to reach settlements like the Premier League does.
The federation has a range of options, which include issuing fines, points deductions and bans from player trading. It is unclear when there will be a final ruling in the case.
Despite her seniority, Ms. Granovskaia was known for keeping a low profile. She is believed in British news media to have never granted an interview.
The Premier League said that for a period that coincided with her tenure, “undisclosed payments by third parties associated with the club were made to players, unregistered agents and other third parties.”
The league published some details from its investigation, which uncovered secret payments linked to the recruitment of some of Chelsea’s biggest stars.
Ms. Granovskaia was rewarded for her years of service when Chelsea was sold. Official accounts show that she pocketed almost $50 million from the club for “services related to the club’s sale.”
Tariq Panja is a global sports correspondent, focusing on stories where money, geopolitics and crime intersect with the sports world.
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