KNVB launch fresh investigation into Vitesse Arnhem links to Roman Abramovich

The Dutch football association is preparing to launch an investigation into alleged financial ties between the top division club Vitesse Arnhem and the Russian oligarch and former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

It comes after the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) uncovered documents that appear to show that Abramovich secretly poured more than €100m into Vitesse.

While Chelsea and Vitesse were known to have a close relationship, with the London club frequently sending players on loan to its Dutch partner, the two teams had previously denied that the oligarch was involved in funding Vitesse.

The latest investigation marks the third effort by the KNVB to probe the funding of Vitesse and any ties to Abramovich, after previous inquiries in 2010 and 2014-15.

Those investigations found that Vitesse was bankrolled by a British Virgin Islands company called Marindale Trading Ltd, which belonged to the club’s former owner Alexander Chigirinsky. However, they concluded that Abramovich had no managerial influence on the club.

The KNVB’s new inquiry comes after the Guardian and TBIJ revealed documents that appear to show that Marindale Trading was not the ultimate source of the club’s money.

Instead, the company was part of a chain of loans originating from two companies in the British Virgin Islands, Ovington Worldwide and Wotton Overseas. Both BVI companies belonged to Cyprus-based trusts, of which Abramovich was the sole beneficiary.

Between 2010 and 2016, at least €117m appears to have flowed through this network of companies, which included entities in Liechtenstein, Belize, BVI and the Netherlands.

The KNVB, which did not respond to a request for comment, has previously told the Guardian that it was