Relationship end for singer Shakira and Gerard Piqué from FC Barcelona

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Footballer Gerard Piqué and singer Shakira in 2019

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BRYAN R. SMITH / AFP

Spain's soccer star Gerard Piqué and Colombia's pop queen Shakira have split after 12 years of dating.

The management of the 45-year-old singer made a statement on Saturday.

'We regret to confirm that we are separating.

For the sake of our children, who are our top priority, we ask that privacy be respected," the statement said.

Met while shooting a music video

Shakira and the FC Barcelona defender were not only considered a dream couple on the Spanish boulevard.

Forbes magazine has repeatedly voted them among the top 10 most powerful couples in the world.

Shakira, 45, and Piqué, 35, have two children together.

They met just before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa when he starred in the music video for Shakira's Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), the official song of the tournament.

Rumors of the couple's relationship ending had dominated the Spanish media for the past few days, fueled by reports that Piqué had left the family home in Barcelona and was living alone in the city.

With over 60 million albums sold, Shakira is one of the most successful musicians of the past two decades.

Piqué won the World Cup with the Spanish national team in 2010 and was also European champion in 2012.

With his club Barcelona he won the Champions League title three times.

The couple had lived together on the outskirts of Barcelona for several years.

However, both were also targeted by the Spanish judiciary: for Shakira, a process for alleged tax fraud in the amount of 14.5 million euros is approaching.

Piqué, on the other hand, was acquitted of tax fraud charges at the end of 2021.

ara/sid/rtr/AP