The decision to move the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia was not one that went down well with many, and to make things worse, leaked conversations appear to show monetary gain was the main reason behind this move.
An exclusive report by El Confidencial (as per Marca) claims that RFEF president Luis Rubiales and Gerard Pique were the masterminds, with the pair discussing in messages how they would split the millions brought in by the decision to stage Spain's annual curtain raiser in the Middle East.
Spain's football federation and Pique's company Kosmos reportedly teamed up to arrange the Saudi deal, which secured the RFEF a whopping 40 million euros for each tournament held in the Gulf nation. As for Pique's business, they were cut a 4 million euros paycheck for each edition over a six-year period, adding up to 24 million in total.
The news outlet has published recordings of conversations between Rubiales and the Barcelona defender in which they discuss business. In those messages, Pique argues that the RFEF stand to raise more money from staging the tournament in Saudi Arabia even if large fees had to be paid out to Real Madrid and Barcelona, Spain's two biggest teams, in order to get them to agree to this arrangement.
"If it's about money and [Real Madrid] would go for 8M euros, then they get paid 8M euros and Barcelona get paid 8M euros too, then the others get paid 2M euros and 1M euros," Pique said.
"That's 19M euros and you, the federation, keep 6M euros.
"We could even push Saudi Arabia for more, saying that if not then Real Madrid might not come.
"Rather than you hosting in it Spain where you won't even make 3M euros, think about this."
After the deal was finally completed and the Spanish Super Cup was moved to another continent, the RFEF president sent Pique a voice message in which he congratulates him for the crucial role he played in getting this over the line.
"Well done Geri and I'm not talking about your great game and goal yesterday," Rubiales said,
"I'm referring to the fact that the agreement is signed with Saudi Arabia.
"Thanks for everything and I'm here for whatever you need."
Did the 2010 World Cup winner commit anything illegal by facilitating this arrangement? According to the report, the answer is no, as Pique's company did not receive a commission directly from the RFEF so as to avoid breaching any rules.
Are these allegations true or out of context? This remains unknown, but things will be become clearer once the two named figures address this topic publicly. La Liga president Javier Tebas, who has a long-standing public feud with the RFEF, even refused to comment on this controversy, instead stressing that all judgement should wait until they give their version of the story.
