Pique denies Rubiales kickbacks in Spanish Super Cup move to Saudi

Majadahonda, Spain: Gerard Pique on Friday denied paying kickbacks to Spain´s disgraced former football federation chief Luis Rubiales in the Spanish Super Cup´s transfer to Saudi Arabia, legal sources said.

The Barcelona and Spain legend testified in court as a suspect in a corruption investigation into the lucrative contracts that took the tournament to the oil-rich Gulf state from 2020. The deals are worth 40 million euros a year and were brokered by Kosmos, a company owned by Pique, while the former defender was still playing for Barcelona.

The court that placed Pique under investigation last year had said there were “possible illegalities with criminal implications”, including a clause to “guarantee the payment of a commission of four million euros per year to Kosmos”. Pique told a court in Majadahonda near Madrid on Friday that he paid “nothing” to Rubiales or anyone else from the federation, according to legal sources. The sources added that Pique started crying and spoke of “the reputational damage” the media coverage of the deal had caused over three years.