Piqué proposed to Rubiales to contact the King Emeritus to take the Super Cup to Saudi Arabia

After an atypical morning, in which Gerard Piqué justified himself to several journalists for more than an hour on his Twitch channel,

has once again published audios this Tuesday that compromise the Barça center-back —and owner of the Kosmos company— and the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales.

As the player himself already announced after midnight, the new leaked recordings revealed a possible collaboration of the King Emeritus to bring the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia: “

[Rubiales], do you think getting closer to the King can help?

He has a very good relationship with the people there, with the kings or whoever is from the Saudis, ”the player asked Rubiales on May 12, 2019, according to one of the audios.

And he added: “Because we can enter easily.

[...] I think the King here could help us for sure... The emeritus, eh! ”, To make it clear that he was referring to Juan Carlos I and not to Felipe VI.

At first, Rubiales thought it was a risky move.

In a written WhatsApp message, the head of the body that governs Spanish football replied: “Uf.

If we jump from the Federation to the Government... it will take its toll on us.

Another thing is that you do it, but you are going to get involved.

I dont know".

Piqué did not throw in the towel and assured that there could be alternatives that would not compromise the operation: “But, Rubi, let's do it differently.

I... No, no... You're not paying me, you're not paying me... Kosmos, at any time... We don't work for you, we work for the Saudis.

So... From the Saudis we want to get closer to the King and we do it”.

Rubiales accepted the proposal and, in order not to get involved, he let the Barça center-back take charge of the approach to Juan Carlos I, who still resided in Spain.

In a message sent this Tuesday to the

program (Antena 3), the King Emeritus has confirmed in a brief message that the contact took place, although it did not come to fruition: “[Piqué] came to Abu Dhabi to present his Davis Cup and I told him very nicely that I would not be here.”

More information

Piqué and Rubiales' millionaire agreement to play the Super Cup in Saudi Arabia

In September 2019, the contract was signed with Saudi Arabia to hold the Spanish Super Cup there, first for a three-year period and then, after the pandemic, it was extended to six editions, until 2025, with the option of extending it another four more years.

The Federation would collect 40 million euros free of tax for each of the editions, or 120 million in total.

Thanks to this operation, Piqué's company, Kosmos, receives four million euros in commission for each edition of the tournament held in the Middle East, that is, 24 million euros in commissions.

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