Pique responds to Super Cup corruption claims: “Everything we have done is legal”

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has pressed that whatever was done to organise the Supercopa de Espana in Saudi Arabia was well within the legal boundaries and that he helped RFEF earn €40 million out of the deal.

A report from El Confidencial last night made a sensational revelation that Pique alongside RFEF President Luis Rubiales signed a contract that guaranteed them as much as €40 million for each edition of the Supercopa held in Saudi Arabia.

Of those €40 million, Pique’s company, Kosmos, would pocket €4 million per tournament from the Saudi organisers after helping the RFEF broker a six-year agreement.

In an audio that was released yesterday, it was heard that the money would be divided between the teams while the federation would earn somewhere around €6 million from it.

Reacting to the claims that he could be caught in the suspicion of corruption, Pique said that he will, in fact, explain his role in the operation.

“Everything we have done is legal, I’m going to expose my part in the conflict of interest I want to show my face because I have nothing to hide. I am proud of what we do at Kosmos,” he said during his Twitch stream on Monday.

He added that Saudi Arabia wasn’t the only option that was considered, with the United States and this year’s FIFA World Cup venue Qatar were also kept in the pipeline.

“We wanted to change the format of the competition and make it more interesting for the viewer. That has repercussions on income. The president, Luis Rubiales, really liked the idea,” he added.

“Saudi Arabia was not the only option. The United States and Qatar were on the table. In the end, they decided to go to Saudi Arabia.”

Speaking of the commission, he mentioned that it is only natural to have somewhere between 10-15% of the revenue especially since he helped them earn €40 million from it.

“The commission? In the world that we live in, it’s relatively normal. It moves between 10 and 15% and we believed that it was in line with what agencies charge for carrying out this type of management. The commission is in line with the market.”

“I brought an opportunity for the RFEF. Before changing the format, they earned 120,000 euros for the competition, after the movement they earned 40 million euros,” he added.

“Officially, we collect the commission directly from the Saudi Arabian government. In no case do we collect anything from the RFEF: four million euros (10% of the 40 million euros of the agreement). I don’t have any commercial agreement with the RFEF.”

Lastly, he also said that the audio was leaked with a bad intention in the first place as his only aim was to provide a better formula.

“Regarding the recordings, it’s an audio taken out of context. I simply help the president to find a formula that makes sense,” he concluded.

“Since the relationship with Rubiales from my time as a player with the national team, I understood that there was the confidence to start those negotiations. I do not regret it because we have done a very good job. Nothing wrong has been done, morally or legally.”