Spain’s football association is again the focus of the judiciary. Piqué also has to testify in the alleged corruption case – and becomes emotional.
Former Spanish football star Gerard Piqué (38) has denied misconduct in the alleged corruption scandal about ex-association chief Luis Rubiales. As the AFP news agency reports on a source of court, Piqué testified on Friday that he had not paid any bribes to ruby or another person from the association in the course of relocating the Spanish supercup to Saudi Arabia.
At the end of the hearing in the case that Spanish football had shaken last year and in which both ruby and successor Pedro Rocha are charged, the former defender of FC Barcelona began to cry according to the AFP source. He spoke of the “damage of his reputation”, which was created by reporting on the case. “I am surprised that a bit has still leaked to this day,” said Piqué in a suburb of Madrid.
Rubial and piqué in focus
The Spanish Supercup has been held in Saudi Arabia annually since 2019 for 40 million euros, Piqué served as an intermediary with his company Kosmos. The contract between the Saudi Arabian company Sela and the Spanish Association RFEF is the focus of the investigation into some contracts that were concluded during Rubial ‘term (2018 to 2023).
Piqué, who also organizes the new edition of the Davis Cup with his company, is said to have earned around four million euros in commission every year. Rubiales, who recently had been sentenced to a fine at the 2023 World Cup, also denied “irregularly” payments for sexual assault by the national player Jennifer Hermoso at the 2023 World Cup.