The head of the Investigative Court number 4 of Majadahonda, Delia Rodrigo, who is investigating the transfer of the soccer Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, has cited former soccer player and businessman Gerard Piqué as being investigated—the former accused figure—considering that there are indications of crime in the annual commission of four million euros that the former Barça player agreed to take for that agreement with the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). The judge has been analyzing for months the alleged illegalities between the federation and the Saudi authorities for the celebration of the tournament in the Asian country since 2019 in exchange for 40 million euros for the body that governs Spanish football and another four million for six years for Kosmos. Football, the company of Piqué, who was still part of the Barcelona squad when the contract was signed. The agreement was extended in 2020 for another four years – up to ten in total -, which is equivalent to 400 million for the RFEF and 40 for the former Barcelona footballer’s company.
The magistrate details in the order, advanced by The confidential and to what this newspaper has had, that the current president of the federation, Pedro Rocha, is also investigated by the Super Cup commissions. Rocha acquired the status of accused last April in the framework of Operation Brodie – in which alleged irregularities in the federation during the term of Luis Rubiales are investigated – after testifying before the judge, since his answers as a witness did not convince Delia. Rodrigo or the prosecutor.
The order indicates that Rocha, who was then vice president of the economic area of the RFEF, did not convene the economic commission – as was his duty – to analyze the extension that was signed in 2020 in order to maintain the Spanish Super Cup for another four more years in Saudi Arabia. He also did not request the file after the fact to evaluate the contract. “The same can be said regarding his actions – or omission – regarding the works on the La Cartuja stadium in Seville,” Rodrigo adds in the text.
Rocha also has a file open for a very serious violation by the Sports Administrative Court (TAD) for not calling elections in a timely manner and exceeding his duties as president of the management company that took care of the day-to-day running of the RFEF when Rubiales resigned. In addition, he has made the decision to remove from their duties federation directors and employees who are being investigated in Operation Brodie, such as Pedro González Segura, who was director of the organization’s legal services, or José Javier Jiménez, known as Jot, but he remains in his new position even though he has the same legal status. Both González Segura and Jota are involved in the alleged irregular awards to the construction company Gruconsa in the renovation of La Cartuja and in the remodeling of the federative headquarters of the Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas.
The RFEF contract with Sela – the Saudi Arabian public company with which the contract was signed – “tried to guarantee”, according to the judge, the payment of four million euros per year in commission for Kosmos Fútbol “when this company formally “I would be Sela’s commission agent.” Javier Tebas, the president of LaLiga, has reacted in statements to the media in London to Piqué’s accusation: “It seemed logical. If former president Rubiales was already under investigation, it seemed normal that Gerard Piqué was under investigation (…). I don’t know how many complaints I filed with the Higher Sports Council explaining that there was a criminal organization in the federation. It doesn’t surprise me, but not because it’s Gerard Piqué, but because everything that happened in the federation was not normal. The contract for which Kosmos, Piqué and President Rubiales are accused is a contract that never came to be in any body [adecuado]”.
According to the judge’s instruction – who is investigating the alleged commission of the crimes of corruption in business and unfair administration -, the federation hired the services of Gruconsa “in exchange for the construction company making payments to the company Dismatec”, which is managed by Francisco Javier Martín, alias Baby, Rubiales’ close friend who is at the center of the web of companies created by both. Federation employees and businessmen close to Rubiales participated in this corporate triangle between the RFEF, Gruconsa and Dismatec, according to the investigation.
The judge also attributes the status of being investigated to Nene himself in the order; to his wife, Purificación Rufino Domínguez; to Gruconsa; to the former legal advisor of the RFEF Tomás González Cueto and Pedro González Segura, in addition to nine other people. Delia Rodrigo, whose investigation is also directed against Rubiales, highlights that Nene’s wife controls the company Dismatec, created by a Gruconsa employee and transferred to her by Nene himself before beginning to receive monthly income from the construction company. The thesis presented in the order is that during the presidency of Luis Rubiales the federation hired Gruconsa—between 2020 and 2022 it made payments to this company for 2.6 million euros—supposedly in exchange for it making payments to Dismatec.
Regarding Cueto, who was the external commissioner of the RFEF and whose law firm (GC Legal) also received transfers from Dismatec, the judge points out that he was able to “play a relevant role in the hiring of Gruconsa.” “Cueto has held an important position within the federation that he could have used to influence the board’s decision-making,” says Rodrigo, who also says that it is necessary to clarify the legality of the amounts charged by the law firm. he. The judge also suspects that from the economic commission of the RFEF – in which Cueto and Pedro González Segura participated – fictitious offers from companies were prepared so that the works would be awarded to Gruconsa, where Ángel Ignacio González Segura (Pedro’s brother) worked. , who investigators believe included unjustified items in the invoices so that the money reached Nene.
You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes in Facebook and xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
#judge #charges #Gerard #Piqué #Pedro #Rocha #Super #Cup #commissions #Saudi #Arabia