|
Marina GranovskaiaMarina Vladimirovna Granovskaia (Russian: Марина Владимировна Грановская; born 13 January 1975)[1][2] is a Russian-Canadian business executive who served as a director at Chelsea from 2014 to 2022.[3][dead link] She was also chief assistant to Roman Abramovich for more than ten years. Professional careerGranovskaia studied at the Foreign Languages Faculty of Moscow State University and graduated in 1997.[3] She started working as Roman Abramovich's PA at Sibneft in 1997.[3] In 2003, she moved to London, when Abramovich bought Chelsea.[3] She has also worked for Millhouse Capital, another company owned by Abramovich.[4] Chelsea F.C.Granovskaia became involved in transfers and contractual dealings for Chelsea, becoming the representative of the owner at the club in 2010, then joining the Chelsea board in June 2013.[3] In 2014, she was promoted to chief executive of the club.[5] The Times stated that the promotion made her the "most powerful woman in football."[6] Her task of managing transfers sometimes put her at odds with managers who had their own ideas of whom to sell or buy during the transfer window.[7] She has also been responsible for brokering the team's sponsorship deal with Nike, that will fund £60m per year to the club until 2032.[8] Granovskaia has been described as 'The Iron Lady' and "one of the best club directors in world football".[9] In 2018, Forbes ranked her Number 5 in their "Most Powerful Women in International Sports" list.[10] Marina Granovskaia received the Best Club Director in European football award at the Golden Boy Awards on 13 December 2021.[11][dead link] On 22 June 2022, it was announced that Granovskaia would leave Chelsea by the end of the 2021–22 season, following the change in ownership of the club.[12] References
|
