The Spanish court announced this Thursday that it is investigating Gerard Piqué for “possible illegalities” in the contract to take the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, which may have yielded a million-dollar commission to the former Barcelona defender’s company.
“The facts investigated (…) originate from possible illegalities with criminal significance in the signing of agreements” between the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and Saudi Arabia to hold the Super Cup in the country, a Madrid court said in a document to which AFP had access.
A clause was included in these contracts to “guarantee the payment of a commission of 4 million euros (around R$22 million at current prices) annually to Kosmos”, Piqué’s company, which mediated the operation between RFEF and Saudi Arabia.
The investigation into Piqué stems from a case against former RFEF president Luis Rubiales for alleged corruption and alleged irregular contracts during his mandate, during which the agreement to transfer the Super Cup was signed.
The magistrate at a court in Majadahonda, near Madrid, who is in charge of the case, is investigating Rubiales for “the alleged commission of a crime of disloyal administration and another crime of business corruption”, according to judicial sources.
Rubiales, who resigned in September last year following the scandal involving forced kissing of player Jenni Hermoso, denied any wrongdoing when he appeared before the judge at the end of April.
In addition to the Supercup contract, which yielded around 40 million euros per year (around R$224 million) for the RFEF, work to renovate the La Cartuja stadium in Seville, where the Spanish team has played many matches, is also under suspicion. of your games.
“I have never cheated on a contract,” Rubiales told the channel The sixth. According to the director, the Spanish Super Cup was moved to Saudi Arabia because it was “the best offer”.
The former president of the RFEF also denied having received commissions for this and the possibility that Piqué had received them through Kosmos.
Rubiales will have to appear in court monthly and must ask for authorization if he wants to travel outside Spain, judicial sources said. His successor at the head of the RFEF, Pedro Rocha, is also being investigated in the case.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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