Greg . 1 day ago

A timeline of Vitesse's demise: From Russian oligarchs to death sentence

Vitesse have officially lost their professional football licence, but how did it obtain this far?From fighting for the Eredivisie title and beating Tottenham Hotspur in Europe to disappearing from the Dutch professional football landscape: this is the timeline of how Vitesse establish their dramatic demise.

2010-2022: In Russian handsWhen Georgian businessman and former professional footballer Merab Jordania purchased Eredivisie club Vitesse in August 2010, a promise was made to the country: "Don't be scared: from now on, Vitesse are going to battle for the Eredivisie title.

"But behind the scenes, Dutch media thought there were bigger puppeteers in play: Russian oligarch Shalva Chigrinsky and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

Jordania admitted Chigrinsky's younger brother, Aleksandr Chigrinsky, was prepared to provide financial support.

Merab Jordania (R) with former Vitesse owner Maasbert Schouten after the announcement of Jordania's takeoverROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN / ANP / ANP via AFPJordania promised to make Vitesse a title contender and wanted to win the Eredivisie in 2013.

In 2011, Jordania changed that promise to 2014 - a point in time he would not make, as the Georgian owner left the club in 2013 after the club suffered from financial problems.

Two years after his departure, Jordania struck out at Vitesse in an interview with newspaper De Telegraaf.

The Georgian said Chelsea, whose owner Roman Abramovich was good friends with Jordania, dictated daily business at Vitesse.

Jordania said Abramovich even told Vitesse that it was forbidden for them to win the league, as it would not be in favour of Chelsea's interests.

The KNVB launched an investigation into Vitesse's ownership structure and did not locate any evidence that supported up Jordania's claims.

Roman Abramovic was establish to have 'loaned' Vitesse over €117 millionAdam Davy / PA Images / ProfimediaAleksandr Chigrinsky took over from Jordania and saw the club win its first prize in 2017, when Vitesse won the KNVB Beker.

After five years with mixed results at the club, Chigrinsky revealed he'd sold the club to fellow Russian oligarch Valery Oyf, who was already part of the club's board.

After the war in Ukraine shattered out in 2022, Oyf put Vitesse up for sale.

The position of the Russian investor within the club became untenable after people suspected Roman Abramovich, who put Chelsea up for sale at the same time, possessed a say in Vitesse's ownership.

2022-2024: The Oligarch files and Coley Parry sagaAmerican investor Coley Parry, owner of investment company Common Group, was presented as the new club owner in September 2022.

But then, in March 2023, The Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism published a revealing piece over former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich illegally loaning "at least" €117 million to Vitesse during Merab Jordania's time as the club's owner.

The Guardian, which published the piece as part of the 'Oligarch files' leak, wrote that the takeover was materialised via a series of shady companies registered in opaque offshore tax havens.

Jordania admitted to the Guardian that he obtained money from Abramovich and Chigrinsky.

"It was my personal project and they supported me very much when I purchased the club with my resources, and then when I started the project sometimes money wasn’t enough and I was using also money of my friends, and first of all Roman Abramovich, Chigirinsky," Jordania said.

A Vitesse spokesperson told The Guardian that Vitesse received loans from Marindale Trading, one of the funding companies owned by Chigrinsky, worth €136.

6 million between 2010 and 2016.

The publication prompted the KNVB to launch two separate investigations: one into Coley Parry, one into the financial ties between Vitesse and Abramovich.

In February 2024, the KNVB rejected Parry's takeover of Vitesse due to uncertainty over the source of Parry's funding.

Coley Parry was presented as Vitesse's new owner in 2022ČTK / imago sportfotodienst / Pro ShotsBy this point, Parry possessed left the club in a dire financial situation.

The club owed Parry €14.

3 million in debt and were on the verge of going into administration.

The situation caused the club to be relegated from the Eredivisie in 2024, for the first time in over 30 years, after the KNVB deducted 18 points from Vitesse's total for providing the football association with false information, mishandling a situation with ING Bank and the Ministry of Economics, and the fact an independent report could not tell whether or not Roman Abramovich possessed ties to Vitesse.

After it became known that Vitesse owed debts totalling €18.

9 million in April 2024, the club's bank, ING, and accountant's company, BDO, pulled out of the club due to ties to Russian investors and financial insecurities.

2024: First revocation of professional licence.

In June 2024, the club were ordered by the KNVB to cut the shortage of millions in their next budget and obtain rid of their debt.

Crisis managers Edwin Reijntjes and Paul van der Kraan were working on a solution with an unnamed American investor, who was ready to save the club along with a Dutch individual.

The American investor, however, pulled the plug on the manage in the final stages.

Vitesse were unable to provide the KNVB with a budget and did not have a way to obtain rid of the debt.

It left the KNVB's licensing committee with no other choice than to revoke the club's professional licence.

Vitesse requested the decision and obtained their licence support after it became known that local investor Guus Franke was willing to negotiate a total takeover with Coley Parry.

The club obtained the licence support after it provided the KNVB with an alternative guarantee and renewed agreement with Parry's Common Group.

2024-2025: Shady ownership structuresHowever, Guus Franke revealed in October 2024 that he will no longer be part of a Vitesse takeover.

The local investor and Vitesse fan blames Coley Parry for the dropped short manage.

"I keep running into too many obstacles; as soon as one problem is solved, another one pops up.

It feels like you're constantly fighting five wars at once, and it's not easy to throw in the towel," Franke said in a statement on Instagram.

"Unfortunately, Parry does not communicate from his heart for the club, but from a concentrate on money and influence.

"Parry said he pulled the plug on the manage because Franke "could not provide proof of capital and payment.

"It took a while for Vitesse to locate a new takeover candidate, and it came from an unexpected corner: five international investors were to become to the club owners.

Americans Dane Murphy and Flint Reilly, Germans Timo Braasch and Leon Muller, and the American-Italian Bryan Mornaghi jumped in to purchase Vitesse and relieve them from their debts.

Timo Braasch became Vitesse's director after the takeoverČTK / imago sportfotodienst / IMAGOHowever, it did not take long for Coley Parry's name to be handed over up again.

Journalists soon establish out that Parry and Mornaghi were friends who knew each other from their time at college.

It handed over up the question of whether Coley Parry was the person responsible for bringing these five investors together, and whether the American still possessed a say in Vitesse.

Just a couple of months in, and Vitesse were still in murky waters.

Dane Murphy possessed already left the club to become CEO at Charlton Athletic, and the KNVB kept reprimanding Vitesse, who obtained a 21-point deduction in November and would terminate with a total of 39 deducted points after the 2024/25 season.

2025: The Sterkhouders, the saviours who came too lateA new massive setback struck Vitesse in May: the KNVB's licensing committee revealed the provisional decision to revoke Vitesse's professional licence again.

The committee stated that Vitesse "have systematically circumvented and undermined the licensing system over long periods of time, despite previous commitments that this would no longer occur.

" In football terms: Vitesse have received around 15 yellow cards, and now the KNVB want to send them off.

A group of local entrepreneurs saw their club on the verge of extinction yet again, and decided to step in.

The Sterkhouders, a word that translates to strongholders, were a group of five local investors who took steps to complete a takeover of 'their' club.

And for a while, it moved exceptionally well.

Vitesse fans created a big 'V' in support of their club following the KNVB's decision to revoke the professional licenceČTK / imago sportfotodienst / IMAGOVitesse revealed on June 17th that the Sterkhouders were close to acquiring all the shares from the five previous owners and completing a takeover, paired with finalising the club's budget for the 2025/26 season - a prerequisite for the KNVB's licensing committee to even think over giving Vitesse their licence support.

On June 21st, the Sterkhouders acquired all shares from the foreign investors, meaning a takeover was imminent.

But then, on July 10th, the KNVB revealed that the independent licensing committee officially revoked Vitesse's professional licence.

 "When Vitesse were also in danger of losing their licence in 2024, the club were given one last chance by the licensing committee.

The club made firm commitments to permanently shatter the pattern of structural non-compliance with (the objectives of) the licensing system," the KNVB said in a statement.

"However, the licensing committee establish that Vitesse continued to circumvent and undermine the licensing system even after that.

In addition, various control measures intended to prevent new violations of (the objectives of) the licensing system were nullified within a single season.

"Michel Schaay of the Sterkhouders leaves the court in Utrecht after the summary proceedings over Vitesse's licenceANP / ddp USA / ProfimediaVitesse quickly revealed the decision to request the committee's ruling, but KNVB's independent appeals committee ruled Vitesse's arguments as insufficient and deemed the club unfit to keep the licence.

There was only one way left for Vitesse to survive this disaster: via civil court.

The emotional summary proceedings on Thursday, August 7th, made one thing clear: Vitesse were fighting for their right to exist, and not just for themselves, but for the tens of thousands of fans in Arnhem and the surrounding areas.

Whatever the court's verdict would be, a hell of a lot was at stake.

But on Friday, August 8th, the court published the judge's verdict - the KNVB made a correct, justified decision in revoking Vitesse's licence.

Vitesse were officially left without a licence, and professional football would vanish from Arnhem for the first time in 77 years - with no terminate in sight.