Vitesse Arnhem docked 18 points and relegated from Eredivisie amid investigation into ties with former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich

Vitesse have been docked 18 points, and their relegation has subsequently been officially confirmed, after an investigation from The Guardian and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism discovered alleged financial ties between the Dutch club and Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea.

In March of 2023, the newspaper reported that Abramovich, according to documents, secretly bankrolled Vitesse for years and loaned the club €117m (£100m/$124m).

Vitesse were bottom of the Eredivisie already but are now confirmed to have dropped out of the top-flight, where they had been playing for 35 years. The KNVB - Dutch football's governing body - said the points deduction came about because of the "exceptonal seriousness and extent" of rule violations by the club. They are alleged to have both withheld information and provided "incorrect information" during the investigation.

The KNVB claimed there were "indications" that Abramovich either still controlled Vitesse or had controlled it for a period of time. Vitesse have been unable to prove that the oligarch did not have an impact, and they have said that the deduction was "inevitable", showing that they have no desire to fight the sanction.

Vitesse still have four games to play but they only have pride to play for. They will face Fortuna Sittard, Utrecht, Heerenveen and Ajax before the curtain comes down on the campaign.