According to the leaked documents, Russian billionaire businessman Roman Abramovich secretly financed the takeover of a leading Dutch first-tier football club, which he financially backed for years while he owned British football club Chelsea.

Two investigations by the Dutch Football Federation found no financial connection between Abramovich and the Fitese club and concluded that the Russian oligarch had no managerial influence over the Dutch club. Both Fitez, under their then owners, and Chelsea, under Abramovich, have repeatedly denied the involvement of the oligarch in financing the Dutch club.

But new revelations are emerging thanks to the Oligarch files, a data file from the Cypriot offshore service provider MeritServus. Documents seen by The Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism appear to be revealing for the first time secret funding of at least 117 million eurosdonated by Abramovich Fitese.