The Spanish authorities froze the accounts of Gerard Pique’s company – “Cosmos”, the media in Spain announced. The actions are part of the investigation against the former president of the Spanish Football Federation – Luis Rubiales. Pique was approached for comment but declined to speak. Spanish police arrested Rubiales earlier this month as part of an investigation into corruption and money laundering during his tenure. Seven more people were arrested in March when police raided the Union’s offices in Madrid and Rubiales’ home in Granada.
A few days ago, El Confidencial published audio files in which Pique and Rubiales can be heard jointly discussing the organization of the Spanish Super Cup tournament in Saudi Arabia. A deal that will net both of them a hefty sum of money for themselves.
It is the company “Cosmos” that partners with the football federation and practically organizes the tournaments themselves, for which it receives 4 million euros per tournament under contract. The Saudis pay 40 million per tournament, and the audio files show Pique and Rubiales dividing the sum.
8 million of it each goes as a fee for the participation of Real and Barca, three or four million is the fee of the other two participants, four million is the official share of “Cosmos”, and for the remaining amount Pique and Rubiales comment on who will be able to keep how much .
Luis Rubiales was arrested and interrogated on charges of corruption surrounding the transactions with Saudi Arabia, and the authorities’ next step is to seize all the accounts of the Cosmos company owned by Gerard Pique.
The scandal with the commissions took shape even while Pique was an active player of Barcelona. By the end of his career, he had already founded “Cosmos” and had a variety of sporting activities, including organizing the Davis Cup tennis tournament.
