Scandal in Spanish soccer! RFEF gave million-dollar commission to Piqué for Super Cup in Saudi Arabia

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) agreed to give the company headed by soccer player Gerard Piqué, Kosmos, a commission of 24 million euros to move the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, according to information published on Monday by El Confidencial.

The RFEF received 40 million euros for each edition of the tournament between the best Spanish League teams hosted in Saudi Arabia. Sela, a Saudi public company in charge of organizing major sporting and cultural events in its territory, paid the money. In addition, as part of the contract, RFEF gave four million euros in commission to Kosmos for each of the six competitions.

El 15 de septiembre de 2019, Rubiales envió un audio a Piqué en un tono propio de dos socios que comparten intereses económicos. "Geri, enhorabuena. Ya son más de las 12 y por lo tanto ya es firme el acuerdo con Arabia Saudí" #SupercopaFileshttps://t.co/fC8aW4G4Ge pic.twitter.com/FB2obq2qCq

— El Confidencial (@elconfidencial) April 18, 2022

The 24 million commission amounts to 10% of the total amount that the Saudis pay annually to bring the Super Cup to their country. Therefore, President Rubiales tried to hide the player's participation in the contract. However, the Federation claims that the numbers of the operation were presented, explained, and endorsed by the soccer assembly. In this sense, the RFEF considers that this latest scandal is part of a campaign of harassment and discredit.

Furthermore, the federation said that Kosmos's commission is not illegal because this company is not receiving the money directly from the Federation but from the Saudi company Sela. However, there could be a conflict of interest because a Barcelona player heads Kosmos, a team that has participated in the two editions played so far in Arabia.

The deal to take the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia was finalized after Rubiales and Piqué handled a plan to move the tournament to Camp Nou in 2018. It was signed until 2025 with an option to extend it for a further four years.

The audios reveal the negotiation in which the president of the RFEF was supposed to hold a meeting with Real Madrid to offer the club to play at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. "I believe that Madrid is going to say no to me. As Madrid will say no, that's a great way for us to justify ourselves for the future and say that the Camp Nou is the stadium with the largest capacity, that Barcelona is the League champion, that it is the Cup champion or Cup finalist… I think we have legitimacy," Rubiales explained to Piqué, according to El Confidencial.

The media has accessed conversations, documents, and audios that show that the two joined to negotiate a multimillion-dollar commission for holding the Super Cup in Saudi Arabia. In 2019, Rubiales and Piqué had already suggested hosting the competition in Saudi Arabia. "Let's see, Rubi, if it's a matter of money, if they [Real Madrid] would go for eight. Eight is paid to Madrid and eight to Barça.... The others are paid two and one, that's 19, and the Federation keeps six kilos. Before you keep nothing, you keep six kilos. And we squeeze Saudi Arabia and maybe we get more... we tell them that if not, Madrid will not go... and we get one more stick or two more sticks," said Piqué in one of the conversations revealed by El Confidencial. A reflection made by the footballer after Rubiales told him that Real Madrid did not contemplate the possibility of playing outside Spain.

🚨 'El Confidencial' desvela la comisión de 24 M€ entre Rubiales y Piqué por la Supercopa de Arabia pic.twitter.com/rj11M1YGQ2

— Diario AS (@diarioas) April 18, 2022

"Geri, congratulations. And I'm not talking about yesterday's great game or your goal. I am referring to the fact that it is already after 12 o'clock, and therefore, the agreement with Saudi Arabia is solid. A hug, thanks for everything, and I'm here for whatever you need… Take care of yourself, my friend," Rubiales told Piqué after confirming the agreement to take the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.

Although Kosmos' involvement in brokering the deal was publicly known, Rubiales told the media that the Federation had not paid any commission to Piqué or anyone else. "The Federation has not paid any commission to Piqué's company. I don't know if the Saudis have," Rubiales said in an interview given to COPE's El Partidazo radio program in November 2019.

The information revealed on Monday comes after the RFEF claimed last week that it had suffered a hack, which resulted in stolen documents, conversations, and personal audios of the president. The stolen data from the hack could be the origin of these leaks.