The former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Luis Rubiales sat down this Monday before the judge in Majadahonda (Madrid) who is investigating him for several cases of corruption. The magistrate, after several hours of testimony, has released him with two precautionary measures: he is obliged to appear in court once a month and must report any trip he wants to make outside of Spain.
Specifically, the judge investigates whether he and his closest collaborators in that entity diverted almost four million euros by manipulating contracts over five years: from the construction of La Cartuja to the Super Cup held in Saudi Arabia. Before the magistrate, the former leader, as he explained upon leaving, has denied any irregularity and remains accused of business corruption and unfair administration.
“I am the most interested in everything being clarified,” said Rubiales, praising his management at the head of the RFEF. “I have had constant attacks and complaints, this is another example, but what I maintain is that there has never been any money received irregularly, no irregular bidding, we have always acted with the utmost excellence,” he added when leaving the courts.
The summary of the case includes several reports from the Central Operational Unit of the Civil Guard in which the agents reflect the existence of a “corporate environment made up of senior officials of the RFEF related to Luis Rubiales.” And the main suspicion is that Saudi Arabia offered commissions to the group to guarantee that the Super Cup would be held in that country and not in Qatar, another of the contenders at that time.
Investigators are investigating whether the Kosmos group, owned by former Barça player Gerard Piqué, or the footballer himself gave “financial gifts” to Rubiales or other managers “as a consequence of the negotiation” of the contract. The judge sees “legally controversial” the million-dollar amounts set “as a commission or success fee” in favor of Piqué’s company. The judge sent a second rogatory commission to Andorra to try to uncover the “complete traceability” of the payments that the Saudi company Sela Company made to Kosmos. These credits continue to arrive in a company account, recently blocked by the magistrate, according to Efe.
Aside from the Super Cup, the judge also investigates other RFEF contracts, such as that of the company Gruconsa for the works on the La Cartuja stadium in Seville. Specifically, it is being investigated whether this hiring was made “in exchange” for this company making “payments” to a company managed by “her friend” Francisco Javier Martín, known as ‘Nene’. Gruconsa is not formally investigated in the case.
Away from the RFEF for months due to the scandal involving the non-consensual kiss he imposed on Jennifer Hermoso, and for which he faces a request for two and a half years in prison, Rubiales returned to another court this Monday. He has testified as a defendant in a case in which crimes of unfair administration or corruption in business are being investigated and for which he was arrested a few hours after getting off the plane that brought him from the Dominican Republic, the country where he was when the riot broke out. police operation.
Rubiales appeared just a few days after the official proclamation of Pedro Rocha as the new president of the RFEF, as the only candidate, one day after the Higher Sports Council (CSD) announced the creation of a commission to oversee the operation of the entity. the next few months.
Source: www.eldiario.es
