Marina Vladimirovna Granovskaia (russian: Марина Владимировна Грановская; born 13 January 1975) is a Russian-Canadian business executive and served as the director of

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football ...

She has also served as chief assistant to

Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (, ; he, רומן ארקדיביץ' אברמוביץ'; born 24 October 1966) is a Russian Russian oligarchs, oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, a Premier League football club ...

for over ten years.

Professional career

Granovskaia studied at the Foreign Languages Faculty of

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

and graduated in 1997. She started working as

's PA at

Sibneft Gazprom Neft (russian: Газпром Нефть; formerly Sibneft, russian: Сибнефть, link=no), is the third largest oil producer in Russia and ranked third according to refining throughput. It is a subsidiary of Gazprom, which owns about ...

in 1997. In 2003, she moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, when Abramovich bought

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. She has also worked for

Millhouse Capital Millhouse Capital is a British registered company. It was created in 2001 to manage assets owned by the Russian businessman Roman Abramovich and his partners. Overview The chairman of the company is Russian-American businessman Eugene Shvid ...

, another company owned by Abramovich.

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. In 2014, she was promoted to chief executive of the club. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' stated that the promotion made her the "most powerful woman in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

." 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. She has also been responsible for brokering the team's sponsorship deal with

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

, that will fund £60m per year to the club until 2032. Granovskaia has been described as 'The Iron Lady' and "one of the best club directors in world football". In 2018, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' ranked her Number 5 in their "Most Powerful Women in International Sports" list. Marina Granovskaia received the Best Club Director in European football award at the Golden Boy Awards on 13 December 2021.

References

1975 births Living people Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff Canadian people of Russian descent Canadian women in business Russian women in business Moscow State University alumni Women business executives Sports executives and administrators Association football executives {{russia-bio-stub