Agent dispute with ex-Chelsea director referred to FA

Saif Alrubie was cleared at court of a charge of sending a threatening email to former Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia

A judge has ruled the case between former Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia and agent Saif Alrubie be referred to the Football Association for arbitration.

The proceedings, which centre around Kurt Zouma's move from the Blues to West Ham in 2021, were the subject of a hearing in the High Court almost a fortnight ago.

Alrubie is pursuing a case against Granovskaia, who was a leading figure during Roman Abramovich's reign at Stamford Bridge, for her role in the non-payment of commission the agent says he is owed from Zouma's transfer.

Chelsea received a fee of £29.1m when selling Zouma.

Fifa laws state an agent acting on behalf of a selling club is entitled to up to 10% of a transfer fee, which means Rubie would be owed close to £3m.

The most recent court hearing centred around whether the case would remain in the court system or be dealt with by an FA arbitration.

The FA's agent regulations say disputes arising out of representation agreements without an international dimension should be "exclusively determined between the parties" under Rule K.

Granovskaia was a Chelsea employee at the time of the transfer but has since left her position and no longer has an official role in football.

Having left Stamford Bridge in 2022 following Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital's takeover, Granovskaia is no longer categorised as an FA participant, which Alrubie's side argue means the case should have remained a court issue.

That could have meant Granovskaia had to disclose details that have so far remained confidential in relation to Zouma's transfer.

It may also have resulted in Chelsea having to comply with requests for information the court deemed relevant to the case.

But a ruling issued on Friday stipulated the case be dealt with by English football's governing body and confirmed Alrubie should pay Granovskaia's court costs - and £150,000 in account of those costs in 14 days.

A spokesman for Alrubie said: "Whilst we would have preferred our claim to be heard in open court, we're satisfied that the High Court judge confirmed that Marina Granovskaia is answerable in these proceedings in her own right. We look forward to pursuing our action for justice via the Rule K arbitration process."

A statement from Granovskaia's spokesperson said: "We welcome today's High Court ruling in Ms Granovskaia's favour.

"Our position has always been that Mr Rubie's claim is baseless, but that if he wanted to pursue his unmeritorious claim, he should have done so in the proper forum, which the court has confirmed is Rule K arbitration."

Last year, a jury cleared Alrubie of sending Granovskaia a threatening email in relation to the Zouma deal, after which he proceeded to open his own civil case.

Marina Granovskaia was a leading figure during Roman Abramovich's reign