The Civil Guard and Europol agents who entered the headquarters of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in Las Rozas this Wednesday were looking for, among other papers, documents related to the transfer of the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia. This operation is the main objective of the complaint filed by Miguel Ángel Galán on May 30, 2022 against the then president of the RFEF, Luis Rubiales, and against Gerard Piqué, who was still a Barcelona player. Galán launched this process a month after The confidential will reveal audios and documents of the negotiations between the two.
At the end of 2018, Rubiales and Piqué undertook the implementation of a new format for the competition, with four teams instead of two, competing for the trophy in two semi-finals and a final. They ended up signing a contract with Saudi Arabia that came into force on September 15, 2019, and which the president of the Federation celebrated with this audio to the footballer: “Geri, congratulations. And I’m not referring to yesterday’s great game or your goal. I mean that it is already past 12 and therefore the agreement with Saudi Arabia is now firm. A hug, thank you for everything and I’m here for whatever you need. Well, except for some little things that you almost better not need me for. Come on, a huge hug. Take care buddy”. The agreement initially included three editions of the tournament in exchange for 40 million euros per year for the Federation and four million per year in commission for Kosmos, the company of the Barça footballer still then, one of the participants in the first edition held in Jeddah. in 2020.
When the ins and outs of the negotiations between the president and the footballer became known, Piqué appeared at a press conference in which he defended his commission: “We are talking about something that is totally legal. People may doubt if it is morally correct or if there is a conflict of interest,” he said about money that he had agreed with Rubiales that would be paid directly by the Saudis, and not the federation, as can be seen from the leaked audios. “The 10% commission is market-based. It is relatively low, because it moves around 15% or 20%. It was in line with what all agencies charge for carrying out this type of procedure.”
Rubiales also defended his participation in the business in an appearance at the federation headquarters recorded this Wednesday: “The management is impeccable and I have nothing to be ashamed of. The contract is exemplary,” he assured. By then, two editions had been held in Saudi Arabia, 2020 and 2022. 2021 stayed in Spain due to the pandemic. In addition, the contract had been extended for three more years, until 2026. Later, it was extended for another three years, until 2029, which is the current agreement in force.
The contracts between the Rubiales federation and Piqué are not the only aspect that has been in question in the transfer of the Super Cup to Arabia. Several clubs have complained about the distribution of compensation, greater for Real Madrid and Barcelona, as they planned together and it was clear in an audio sent to the president by the footballer: “Let’s see, Rubi. If it’s a matter of money, if they (Real Madrid) would go for eight, hell, man, they pay eight to Madrid and eight to Barça… The others are paid two and one… that’s 19, and you you’re left with the federation six kilos, man. Before you have nothing left, you have six kilos left. And we put pressure on Saudi Arabia and maybe we get the better of them… We tell them that if not, Madrid won’t go… and we get one more stick or two more sticks out of them…”. The figures ended up being different. In the first edition, Madrid and Barcelona received 6.8 million each, while Valencia complained about receiving only 2.5. In 2023, the one who complained was Betis, to whom 750,000 euros corresponded to the 1.7 million from Valencia and 2.8 from Madrid and Barça.
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