The Spanish Super Cup begins, played incomprehensibly in Arabia. Why? Piqué is involved

The Spanish Super Cup? Always a match between the winners of La Liga and Copa del Rey in played in Spain. Not since 2020, however, when it takes the form of a tournament played in Saudi Arabia in January. Why is that? Former Barcelona stopper Gerard Piqué has a hand in it.

Today, Wednesday, Real Madrid and Valencia will play the first semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup, while tomorrow Real Betis and Barcelona will play. The winners will face each other in the final played on Sunday 15 February.

For many years, the Spanish Super Cup has been played in a league winner – home/away cup winner style in the summer before the season. But as of 2020, it has been turned into a mini-tournament, with four teams (the 1st and 2nd teams in the league and the Copa del Rey finalists) competing in a semi-final and final. The Super Cup is played in January and, even less understandably, in Saudi Arabia.

In the past, Real Madrid players, namely Toni Kroos and Thibaut Courtois, have complained about the tournament being played in an Arab country that doesn’t draw many spectators. But certainly not former Barcelona stopper Gerard Piqué, who is making a lot of money out of it.

According to the newspaper El Confidencial, the RFEF (Spanish Royal Football Federation) has made a pact with Kosmos Holding, of which Piqué is the president. In return for arranging the transfer of the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, the association will earn 40 million euros for each year, while Kosmos will collect the commission of four million for each year played. The contract is signed for six editions, so Piqué’s company will earn 24 million euros.

El Confidencial also came up with a wiretap of Piqué being very friendly with the president of the Spanish Federation, Luis Rubiales, about moving the tournament to Arabia.

“Look, Rubi, if it’s about money… If they go for eight, that’s great, mate. They’ll pay eight million to Madrid, eight million to Barca, the others will be paid two and one. That’s 19, and you as a Federation keep the rest, mate. That’s six kilos. Before you had nothing, now you’ll have six kilos.

And we’ll push Arabia and maybe we’ll get more out of them. We’ll tell them if they don’t, Madrid won’t come. And we’ll get another bat out of them. You’ve played Spain before and made nothing out of it, so that’s something to think about, isn’t it? When money is involved,” Piqué told the federation president in March 2019.

15. on August 2019, the Super Cup was eventually moved to Saudi Arabia, and so Rubiales again fired up the hotline with Piqué.

“Geri, congratulations. And I don’t mean yesterday’s great game or your goal. I mean the fact that there’s already a deal in place with Saudi Arabia. I send hugs, thank you for everything and I’m here whenever you need anything,” the federation president sent a heartfelt message to the Barcelona stopper.

Of course, this is a conflict of interest. But the former Spanish footballer is teetering on the edge so as not to cross the fine line. Thus, Kosmos does not receive money directly from the Spanish Federation, so as not to violate the code of ethics, but in a roundabout way.

Source: El Confidencial