Gerard Piqué voluntarily submits to the Anticorruption Prosecutor the invoices to bring the Super Cup to Arabia

BarcelonaAfter the working relationship between Gerard Piqué and the president of the Federation came under suspicion, the Blaugrana central wanted to participate voluntarily in the investigation that is underway by the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office. Piqué has voluntarily handed over the invoices for the commissions he has collected for being an intermediary and making it possible for the Spanish Super Cup to be played in Saudi Arabia, according to The world. The newspaper has had access to the documents handed over to Anticorruption, in which it can be seen how Kosmos Footble, the company of the Catalan footballer, invoices Sela Sport Company Limited, commercial operator of the Ministry of Sports of Saudi Arabia, 800,000 euros of taxes for a “consulting task” between May 15, 2019 and December 29, 2020. The total amount reaches 8 million euros, according to the medium that has made the invoices public.

Apart from the documents he has provided to the Anticorruption Prosecutor, Piqué has sent an attached letter in which he alleges that “there is no payment from the RFEF”. The Barcelona central defender defends that “we are faced with a contractual agreement with reciprocal obligations described in a transparent manner and which also contains detailed anti-corruption clauses”, according to the information ofThe world.

At the same time, Piqué underlines what he considers to be proof that everything has been done in compliance with the law, namely that the millionaire payments he has committed to have been personally authorized by “official authorities of Saudi Arabia such as the Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Bin Faisal Alsaud and D. Yasser Alisehal acting on behalf of the Ministry of Sports.” Therefore, always according to Piqué, this “evidences the officiality, transparency and intervention of the highest institutions of the state in the recruitment”.

Format change in 2019

The Anticorruption Prosecutor opened proceedings against Luis Rubiales and Gerard Piqué following the contract to bring the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia. He did so after a complaint, presented by Miguel Ángel Galán – president of the National Center for the Training of Football Coaches (CENAFE) and opponent of Rubiales – against the highest representative of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), in which it is requested that his management at the head of the body be investigated and also the agreement that brought the tournament to the Middle East in exchange for 40 million per season.

The tournament, which was initially contested as a double-header between the winner of the League and the winner of the Cup, went on to be played as a final four in Saudi Arabia. The Federation went on to earn 40 million per edition, paid by Sela, a Saudi public company. Of this money, the majority was distributed between the clubs that disputed it and a part, 10%, was kept by the Kosmos company – of which Piqué is co-owner – as a commission. The agreement was for six seasons, which means that Piqué ended up receiving 24 million euros in total.

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