Thursday, December 12, 2024, 18:57
The Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard has concluded that the former footballer Gerard Piqué was an “active party” in the contract that brought the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia and has asked the judge to issue a rogatory commission to the Arab country to that identifies the bank accounts of the former Barça player and the former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Luis Rubiales.
This is stated in a report, to which Europa Press has had access, which has been submitted to the Court of First Instance and Instruction Number 4 of Majadahonda, in which alleged irregularities committed in the RFEF during Rubiales’ management in relation to the transfer of the celebration of the Super Cup to the Arab country.
The agents ask Judge Delia Rodrigo to release the rogatory commission, understanding that “information that could be useful for clarifying the facts is under the protection of the authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” In addition to asking the instructor to request information about those under investigation, she also requests that the Saudi authorities from the commercial company SELA – a Saudi public company – provide data on the signing of the agreement with the RFEF for the celebration of the Spanish Super Cup.
Kosmos mediated “in favor of the RFEF”
The agents convey to the judge the “indications” collected in relation to the first negotiations for the celebration of the Super Cup abroad and collect the different “alternatives” that the RFEF established for the celebration of the tournament outside of Spain. As they specify, “among the different intermediaries who offered their services to negotiate, it is necessary to highlight that Piqué was an active part in the process through his representative’s company AC TALENT.”
When reviewing the chronology of the events that gave rise to the contract to bring the Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, the UCO points out that it can be “inferred that the intermediation carried out by Kosmos would have really been exercised in favor of the RFEF and not SELA”, in reference to the Saudi public company.
In its report, the UCO gives details of Piqué’s collaboration with the Federation beyond the agreement with Saudi Arabia. Specifically, it points to the existence of emails and meetings in which television rights were “explored and negotiated, as well as the celebration and format of the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.” For the agents, “it is notable that not only Arturo Juan Canales participated in the negotiations on behalf of AC Talent – the footballers’ agency that he presides – but that Piqué was also present, thus understanding that he would also be part of the intermediation team, at least in that line of business.
The WhatsApp group with Rubiales
However, the UCO clarifies that “the relations between Piqué and his entourage with the RFEF are not limited” only to those matters, but also included agreements, for example, with the Japanese company Rakuten, or with Kosmos and the entity to develop an audiovisual project called ‘MVP Academy’.
In its report, the Civil Guard also reports on the creation in March 2019 of a WhatsApp group under the name Supercopa España formed by Rubiales, Piqué, Canales and also the then director of the RFEF Rubén Rivera. Although the messages exchanged in it are unknown, the agents maintain that “from that moment on, greater involvement and interest on the part of the RFEF in the Saudi Arabia option was seen.”
In April of that same year, changes were made to the memorandum of understanding, which was signed that month. It was then that Andreu Camps, who was general secretary of the RFEF, indicated that a “third party”, China, had shown its interest in holding the Super Cup in that country. Camps, according to the UCO, warned that before signing agreements such as the one that was going to be reached with Saudi Arabia, the CNMC had to be informed and approved in the entity’s assembly.
Search for a new headquarters
Within the framework of the report, the researchers also recall that when the pandemic made it impossible to hold the tournament in 2021, the Federation and SELA had to propose a “new negotiation scenario given the unfeasibility of fulfilling the contract.” “In these new negotiations in which the possibility of terminating the agreement and the search for a new headquarters was considered, Kosmos once again mediated,” they emphasize and add that within the framework of said intermediation there were “contacts” between Piqué and Rubiales, as well as “other Kosmos and RFEF workers.”
In line, he points out that the RFEF ended up signing the addendums to the original contracts to extend the same conditions until 2029. «In this way, the RFEF was guaranteed the collection of 40 million euros per year for three more years, as well as KOSMOS the collection of its annual commission of 4 million euros.
This report takes place after last May the investigating judge agreed to investigate Piqué upon seeing criminal signs in the commission that was awarded within the framework of the transfer of the ‘Super Cup’ to Saudi Arabia.
