Barcelona defender Gerard Pique dismissed any wrongdoing over his involvement in helping the Spanish FA secure a deal to relocate Spain’s Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, an agreement which earned his Kosmos company 24 million euros ($26 million) in commission.
On Monday, website El Confidencial published leaked audio recordings from 2019 that revealed details about the contract negotiated by Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales and Pique with Saudi Arabia that included Kosmos receiving 4 million euros for each of the six Super Cup editions scheduled to be played in the West Asian country.
“I have absolutely nothing to hide, it’s all legal,” Pique told a late night news conference on Monday that was streamed on his social media channel.
“We can debate the morality of it but the only illegality is the leaking of the audios. I see no ethical issues or conflict of interest either. It’s the opposite, I feel proud for the spectacular job we have done bringing the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.”
Pique said the 4 million euros paid per tournament to Kosmos represents 10 per cent of the 40 million euros that Saudi authorities agreed to pay the Spanish FA every year to bring the Super Cup to the Gulf state.
