Latest news with #Rubiales
Al-Ahram Weekly
14-03-2025
- Sport
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Pique denies Rubiales kickbacks in Spanish Super Cup move to Saudi - World
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. "I am surprised that as of today there are still leaks," he said. The testimony comes with proceedings at an investigative stage and a trial could follow if formal charges are presented. The suspicions surrounding the Super Cup move further sullied the image of Spanish football and Rubiales, who last month was found guilty of sexual assault for forcibly kissing star forward Jenni Hermoso in 2023. Rubiales was fined 10,800 euros and cleared of coercing Hermoso to downplay the scandal, in a sentence that feminist groups slammed for being too lenient. Both Hermoso and Rubiales have appealed the verdict, while prosecutors, who had sought two-and-a-half years in jail against him, have demanded the trial be rerun. The transfer to Saudi Arabia, which expanded the tournament to a four-team format, was one of several controversies during Rubiales' tenure as head of the football federation and angered traditionalists. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pique denies Rubiales kickbacks in Spanish Super Cup move to Saudi
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. "I am surprised that as of today there are still leaks," he said. The testimony comes with proceedings at an investigative stage and a trial could follow if formal charges are presented. The suspicions surrounding the Super Cup move further sullied the image of Spanish football and Rubiales, who last month was found guilty of sexual assault for forcibly kissing star forward Jenni Hermoso in 2023. Rubiales was fined 10,800 euros and cleared of coercing Hermoso to downplay the scandal, in a sentence that feminist groups slammed for being too lenient. Both Hermoso and Rubiales have appealed the verdict, while prosecutors, who had sought two-and-a-half years in jail against him, have demanded the trial be rerun. The transfer to Saudi Arabia, which expanded the tournament to a four-team format, was one of several controversies during Rubiales' tenure as head of the football federation and angered traditionalists. pho-vid-imm/mdm/ds/jc
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué questioned by judge in Spanish Super Cup probe
MADRID (AP) — Former Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué was questioned by a judge on Friday as part of judicial probe into the business deal that led to the Spanish Super Cup being hosted in Saudi Arabia. The probe is examining suspicions of corruption and money laundering in a lucrative move made by Luis Rubiales, the former Spanish football federation president, in 2019. Neither Piqué nor his lawyer spoke to reporters gathered outside the courthouse. The Madrid-based court has said that the federation and Saudi Arabia signed contracts in 2019 and 2020 to seal a 10-year agreement to stage the mini soccer tournament in the Middle Eastern nation for 40 million euros ($43 million) a year. Another 4 million euros a year was to be paid as a commission to Piqué's sports entertainment company Kosmos while Piqué was still playing for Barcelona and participating in the Super Cup. Piqué, the former husband of pop star Shakira, has since retired from soccer. He has denied wrongdoing. Prosecutors opened a probe of that deal in 2022 following leaked audio between Rubiales and Piqué regarding millions of euros in commissions. Rubiales denied any wrongdoing when questioned by the judge in April of 2024. Pique was placed under investigation the following month. The case is still in its investigative phase. The judge can either conclude to shelve it or recommend it goes to trial. Rubiales was convicted last month for sexual assault after kissing Spain player Jennifer Hermoso without her consent after the final of the 2023 Women's World Cup. ___ AP soccer: The Associated Press
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué questioned by judge in Spanish Super Cup probe
MADRID (AP) — Former Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué is being questioned by a judge on Friday as part of judicial probe into the business deal that led to the Spanish Super Cup being hosted in Saudi Arabia. The probe is examining suspicions of corruption and money laundering in a lucrative move made by Luis Rubiales, the former Spanish football federation president, in 2019. The Madrid-based court has said that the federation and Saudi Arabia signed contracts in 2019 and 2020 to seal a 10-year agreement to stage the mini soccer tournament in the Middle Eastern nation for 40 million euros ($43 million) a year. Another 4 million euros a year was to be paid as a commission to Piqué's sports entertainment company Kosmos while Piqué was still playing for Barcelona and participating in the Super Cup. Piqué, the former husband of pop star Shakira, has since retired from soccer. He has denied wrongdoing. Prosecutors opened a probe of that deal in 2022 following leaked audio between Rubiales and Piqué regarding millions of euros in commissions. Rubiales denied any wrongdoing when questioned by the judge in April of 2024. Pique was placed under investigation the following month. The case is still in its investigative phase. The judge can either conclude to shelve it or recommend it goes to trial. Rubiales was convicted last month for sexual assault after kissing Spain player Jennifer Hermoso without her consent after the final of the 2023 Women's World Cup. ___ AP soccer:
Daily Tribune
07-03-2025
- Sport
- Daily Tribune
Prosecutors demand Rubiales forced kiss trial be re-run
Prosecutors yesterday requested that the trial of Spain's ex-football federation chief Luis Rubiales for his forced kiss on Jenni Hermoso be annulled and re-run, notably questioning the judge's impartiality. Spain's top criminal court last month found Rubiales guilty of sexual assault for the kiss and fined him 10,800 euros ($11,670), sparing him jail in a sentence considered lenient by feminist groups. The sentence fell well short of the demands of prosecutors, who had sought a total of two and a half years in prison for Rubiales, one year for sexual assault and 18 months for allegedly coercing Hermoso to downplay the kiss. Hermoso is appealing the sentence, which also cleared Rubiales and three other defendants of coercion. The prosecutors said in a statement that they were appealing the sentence and requested the trial be declared null and void and 'held again by another judge not tainted, to say the least, by an appearance of bias'. They said judge Jose Manuel Fernandez-Prieto 'unduly' prevented the prosecutor in the trial, Marta Durantez, from posing certain questions and ignored some of the evidence and cited the 'arbitrariness' of the sentence. Fernandez-Prieto attracted attention during the trial for his brusque attitude, frequently interrupting and scolding participants. The back - lash unleashed by the kiss as Hermoso went up to receive her winner's medal after Spain beat England in the 2023 Women's World Cup final in Sydney forced Rubiales to relinquish his post in disgrace and plunged the football federation into a prolonged period of turmoil. The trial captivated Spain and made Hermoso an icon of the fight against sexism and macho culture in sport.
