Advertisement

Piqué's company made €24M from Spanish Super Cup being played in Saudi Arabia

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Piqué's company made €24M from Spanish Super Cup being played in Saudi Arabia
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) negotiated a €24 million commission for Kosmos, the sports events company chaired by Barcelona's defender Gerard Piqué. Photo: Pau BARRENA/AFP

The Spanish football federation arranged for a commission of €24 million ($25.9 million) to be paid to Kosmos, the sports events company founded by Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué, as part of the Spanish Super Cup moving to Saudi Arabia, a report in the Spanish press said on Monday.

Advertisement

According to El Confidencial, the contract negotiated by the federation includes Kosmos receiving €4 million for each of the six tournaments to be played in Saudi Arabia from 2020, while the federation receives €40 million for each competition.

"Piqué had a key role in the negotiations for the Spanish Super Cup to be hosted in Saudi Arabia, and throughout this process enjoyed preferential treatment from (federation president) Luis Rubiales, for reasons yet to be determined.

"A spokesperson for Piqué has denied that he received any special treatment," El Confidencial wrote on Monday.

Advertisement

The first Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia took place in January 2020 between Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid and Valencia, with Real Madrid beating Atlético in the final.

Before the tournament, Rubiales confirmed in a press conference that Kosmos had participated in the negotiations with Saudi Arabia.

He said the federation had made no direct payment to the company, avoiding any conflict of interest and a breach of its code of ethics.

According to Marca on Monday, the federation believe "this information does not say anything new compared to what was made public in 2019".

Gerard Piqué has responded to the scandal by saying that "everything we have done is legal" and when asked about a possible conflict of interests, the Barça and Spain defender argued that "a commercial issue has nothing to do with a result on the football field".

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also