A report published this Monday has outlined exactly how Spain’s football federation, the RFEF, and Gerard Pique’s company, Kosmos, worked together to organise the Supercopa de Espana in Saudi Arabia.
It has been revealed that the RFEF signed a contract that guaranteed them 40 million euros for each edition of the Supercopa held in Saudi Arabia, while Kosmos would take 4m euros for each tournament held over a six-year period, adding up to 24m euros in total.
This has all been detailed in an exclusive report by El Confidencial, who have also published recordings of conversations held between Pique and RFEF president Luis Rubiales.
In one of these recordings, Pique responded to Rubiales’ suggestion that Real Madrid wouldn’t play outside of Spain for anything less than 8m euros.
“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.”
Kosmos didn’t make money from the federation directly
Pique has been involved in the organisation of the Supercopa de Espana, one of a few business ventures in which he has been accused of approached a conflict of interest without ever quite crossing that line.
In this case, he didn’t charge a commission directly to the RFEF in order to avoid breaching any ethics codes, something El Mundo reported back in November 2019.
Pique has also been involved in bringing Rakuten to Barcelona as a sponsor, as well as organising the new Davis Cup and purchasing FC Andorra.
Rubiales’ message of congratulations to Pique
Another voice message was sent to Pique when the deal was agreed, with Rubiales congratulating the Barcelona player.
“Well done Geri and I’m not talking about your great game and goal yesterday,” the RFEF president started.
“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.”
That message was sent on September 15, 2019, with the first edition of the tournament in Saudi Arabia held the following January, just before the pandemic. Real Madrid won it, with Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia also participating.
Rubiales and Pique’s plan to take the Supercopa to the Camp Nou
Before taking the tournament to Saudi Arabia, there was talk of playing it in Spain and the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and Camp Nou were possibilities.
Rubiales explained to Pique that Real Madrid would probably reject the chance to host it, meaning they’d be able to justify taking it to the Camp Nou.
“I think Real Madrid will say ‘no’, but that’s f**king great for us to justify things in the future and to say we’re going to the stadium with the largest capacity, the stadium of the champion or cup winner or cup finalists. I think we’ll have legitimacy.”
Source : Marca.com
