Gerard Pique is under investigation over the Saudi Super Cup deal

A Spanish judge has placed former Barcelona player Gerard Pique under formal investigation over his alleged involvement in illegal payments in transporting the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.

Judge Delia Rodrigo concluded that there were indications of irregularities in the deal between Pique Cosmos and the Spanish Football Federation, according to a court document.

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According to court documents, former Spanish Federation president Luis Rubiales, Saudi government-owned Sella Sport and Pique signed an agreement in 2019 under which Pique would receive €40 million as a “success bonus” for games held in Saudi Arabia each. year.

“The facts under investigation in the current proceedings stem from possible irregularities with criminal implications in contracts or agreements,” Rodrigo wrote.

Pique did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since June 2022, the court has been investigating whether Rubiales committed a crime related to improper management when the Spanish Football Federation agreed with Pique’s company Cosmos to move the tournament.

In March, police searched the Spanish Federation’s headquarters and an apartment owned by Rubiales and arrested seven people in a corruption investigation into the multi-million euro deal.

Police informed Rubiales, who has denied any wrongdoing, that he was a suspect in the police investigation in April after he returned from spending two months in the Dominican Republic on what he described as a business trip.

Pique, who played for Barcelona in Super Cup matches in Saudi Arabia, received an annual sum of $4 million ($4.33 million) over six years. This was later extended for four years.

Pedro Rocha, who was at the time head of the Spanish Football Federation’s economic department, failed to call a meeting of the economic committee as he should have done to analyze the four-year extension of the deal.

Rocha was elected president of the Spanish Football Federation last month despite being placed under investigation after testifying in court and saying he had no knowledge or responsibility for any of the alleged crimes being investigated in the case.