The Russian owner of football club Vitesse, Valeri Ojf, has Friday announced to sell his shares in the club. He is also stepping down from the Supervisory Board with immediate effect. Ojf says he made the “difficult decision” because of the “current situation.” He is probably referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia that Western countries have announced. As far as is known, Ojf is not on sanctions lists.
The news follows measures taken against Russian billionaire Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, a close friend of Ojf. Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he announced that he wanted to sell the British football club. Before a buyer was found, the British government announced sanctions against Abramovich. As a result, the sale cannot go ahead for the time being, although Chelsea can continue to play. The UK has frozen nearly $20 billion in Abramovich’s assets.
“It hurts me a lot to say goodbye to Vitesse,” Ojf said in a statement. He made the decision “in the interest of the club”. Vitesse is in my heart and that will always apply to the club and the supporters. The statement states that “the continuity of the club will be guaranteed” when the shares are sold. Major shareholder Ojf invested about 150 million euros in the club through a letterbox company, with which he covered the annual losses.
Also read: At Vitesse it is little about football: Russian money has brought the club far in Europe