Dutch soccer club Vitesse docked points and relegated during probe of Russian ties to Abramovich

ARNHEM, Netherlands (AP) — Soccer club Vitesse Arnhem was docked 18 points on Friday and will be relegated from the Netherlands top division while under investigation for ties to sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea.

Vitesse said in a statement it will not appeal the punishment imposed by a licensing panel at the Dutch soccer federation. It dropped the team into the second tier for the first time in 35 years.

Vitesse already was in danger of relegation before its points total was cut to -1 in a distant last place in the Eredivisie standings.

The Dutch federation said Vitesse “repeatedly failed” to meet the demands of its financial license.

Vitesse and its Russian owners had longstanding ties to Chelsea which Abramovich owned for nearly 20 years. The British government forced a sale of Chelsea after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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