Barcelona's Pique accused of making $6.5m from taking Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia
Barcelona football star Gerard Pique has been accused of making 6 million eurosÌý($6.5Ìýmillion) for his role in a 2019 deal that controversially took the Ìý³Ù´Ç .
Leaked recordings and documents from 2019, first reported by Spanish newspaper on Monday, reveal that Pique and Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) chief Luis Rubiales colluded to host the competition in the Gulf state.
The deal reportedly guaranteed the RFEFÌý 40 million euros ($43 million)Ìýfor each edition, and Pique’s company Kosmos was promised 4 million eurosÌýa year for six years, according toÌý.
The recordings and documents further reveal that Rubiales agreed to pay Pique six million euros for the deal and tried to hide the Barcelona defender’s involvement.
Pique says everything related to Kosmos involvement in RFEF taking Supercopa to Saudi was above aboard. Doesn't agree there is a conflict of interest & says audios were leaked with bad intentions and "only illegal" element of whole story is the leaking
— Samuel Marsden (@samuelmarsden)
Gerard Pique, a former World Cup winner with Spain, is one ofÌýBarcelona's senior players and his involvement in the deal could be considered a conflict of interest. The RFEF announced when the deal was struck that they would not pay a commission to Pique.Ìý
Both Pique and the RFEF have denied any wrongdoing.
"I have nothing to hide, everything we have done is legal," said Pique during a streaming broadcast on his Twitch channel on Monday. "I will give my side of the story in terms of the conflict of interest. It's not something I will hide from; I feel proud because we have done a spectacular job."
"[The audio was] leaked with bad intentions and making news of something which two years ago was not news," he added. "The only illegal thing is leaking the audios."
The RFEF in 2019 that Pique’s KosmosÌýhelped the Spanish football federation strike the deal to host the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.ÌýThe Kingdom will host the Super Cup every year until 2029, according to the agreement.
Saudi Arabia’s human rights record had been a major issue when the RFEF struck its deal with the Kingdom in 2019.
During this year’s tournament in January, had urged the participating teams to wear armbands to protest Riyadh’s suppression of women’s rights and persecution of the LGBTQ community in the Kingdom.
°®Âþµº has reached out to the RFEF andÌýFC Barcelona for comment.Ìý