Barcelona’s Pique accused of making millions helping take Spain’s Supercopa to Saudi Arabia

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Leaked documents and audio suggest Spanish football’s governing body and Barcelona football player Gerard Pique agreed to split millions of euros to take Spain’s Supercopa tournament to Saudi Arabia.

A report by Spanish daily El Confidencial on Monday suggests that Pique and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) head Luis Rubiales may have been violating the federation’s code of ethics, which restricts its members from taking illegal commissions related to their functions or holding conflicts of interests.

Rumors of the plot have been circulating since 2019, the year the tournament was transferred to Saudi Arabia. At that time, Rubiales insisted that he had not paid Pique’s company a commission for the deal.

Yet the leaked documents and audio paint a picture of the two working closely together to bring the football tournament to Saudi soil. In exchange, the RFEF would earn €40 million ($43.1 million) per year, with Pique’s company getting 10%, according to the investigation.

The contract to hold the Supercopa in Saudi Arabia runs until 2025, with the possibility of extending it to 2029.

The federation denies any wrongdoing.

However, some football fans are up in arms, questioning whether Spain’s football authority, which is also in charge of referees, has struck other secretive deals with football players or clubs.

Others are questioning the ethics of Pique allegedly playing in a tournament that he profits from and helped organize.