Chelsea try to settle Saif Ruby’s legal case out of court

Chelsea are trying to settle football agent Saif Rubi’s legal dispute against the club out of court.

In early September, Rubie announced that he intended to file a lawsuit against the Premier League club and its former director Marina Granovska.

The London-born agent believes he is owed the money for Kurt Zouma’s transfer from Chelsea to West Ham United in August 2021.

Chelsea are instead trying to take the case to arbitration, where the dispute would be settled by a neutral third party out of court.

The club believes that the Football Association (FA) regulations governing football agents state that such matters should be referred to arbitration.

The FA Agents Regulations state: “Disputes arising out of or in connection with the Representation Agreement not involving an international dimension shall be resolved exclusively between the parties in accordance with Rule K (Arbitration) of the Regulations.”

The FA’s agent regulations are binding on all ‘participants’. However, Rubi’s team believe that Rule K does not apply because Granovskaia is no longer playing football and is therefore not a ‘participant’.

Granovskaia left Chelsea in June 2022 after having worked at the club since 2003.

Rubie still believes the case should be heard in court, with his spokesman stating: “Chelsea and Ms Granovskaia have a clear interest in preventing Mr Rubie’s claim from being heard in an open court hearing, given the ongoing investigations into the club and its operations under previous ownership.”

Rubie was found not guilty of a charge of malicious communication towards Granovskai in April 2024 following a trial at Southwark Crown Court. The charge related to an email sent by Rubie to Granovskai in May 2022 in which the agent requested a commission on the sale of Zouma to West Ham the previous summer.

During the April trial, the court heard that Rubie believed he had acted as a go-between on Chelsea’s behalf in the Zouma deal – and as such was to receive a commission on any transfer fee above €30m (£25.6m, $32.2m). Both sides disputed the exact amount, with Granovskaia arguing that Rubie never represented Chelsea and instead sought to be involved in the transaction.

Rubie insisted he was entitled to a £300,000 transfer fee, while the deal to bring Frenchman Zouma to West Ham was worth €33.9m.

Granovska’s side declined to comment when contacted Athletic.

GO DEEPER

Marina Granovskaia, Saif Rubie and the trial revealing the “difficult and ugly side of football”

(Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images)