Spanish prosecutors suspect former football federation president Rubiales of financial irregularities

Spanish prosecutors suspect former President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Luis Rubiales of irregularities in the contract for the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia. Seven people have already been detained in this case. Currently, the former sports official is in the Dominican Republic, but on April 6 he plans to return to his homeland and promises to cooperate with the investigation.

Spanish police have carried out a series of raids in connection with alleged irregularities in the contract for the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia. The investigation took place in 11 places, in particular at the office of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, which is located in one of the Madrid suburbs of Las Rozas, as well as at the Olympic Stadium in Seville and in private apartments in Granada belonging to former RFEF president Luis Rubiales.

Let us recall that last fall Mr. Rubiales left his post and was for three years disqualified International Football Federation after the scandalous story of publicly kissing the captain of the Spanish women’s national team, Jennifer Hermoso, at the ceremony for presenting the team with gold medals at the World Cup.

Now Rubiales is suspected of involvement in corruption when signing a contract to host the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia starting in 2020.

This contract, according to which the Saudi side pays RFEF €40 million annually, was concluded through the mediation of Kosmos, a company owned by former Barcelona defender Gerard Pique and which served as a key partner of the International Tennis Federation in staging the reformed Davis Cup from 2019 to 2022.

An investigation into the Super Bowl deal was opened in 2022 after listening to audio recordings of conversations between Rubiales and Pique, which discussed multimillion-dollar commissions. Rubiales then insisted on the legality of the contract.

“If there is talk of some type of commission, then Kosmos will receive it from Saudi Arabia. The federation did not pay, does not pay and will not pay a single euro of commission for this deal,” said the ex-president of the RFEF. However, the police continued to work.

On Wednesday, according to APin addition to the searches in this case, seven people were detained (according to other sources, including two RFEF directors and the legal adviser of the federation, Tomas Gonzalez Cueto), and from Rubiales’ house in Granada, members of the Civil Guard – a paramilitary force that is subordinate to the Spanish Ministry of Internal Affairs – after During the search, several cardboard boxes and bags were removed.

The Football Federation, having expressed deep concern about the events that took place, declared its readiness to cooperate with the investigation. Similar intentions expresses and Mr. Rubiales, who has been in the Dominican Republic for about a month. The country does not have an extradition treaty with Spain, although there is currently no need for one because no arrest warrant has been issued for Rubiales, 46. “I have nothing to hide. The sooner everything becomes clear, the better for me,” he told radio station Cadena SER.

Hours after the police raids, Luis Rubiales’ lawyer told a Madrid court that his client was willing to cooperate with authorities and planned to fly home on April 6, but could do so sooner if asked by the court, according to the AP.

Evgeniy Fedyakov