By SF
Published 1 hour ago, Updated 9 minutes ago
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According to the Spanish newspaper The Objective, documents attest to an attempted embezzlement which directly concerns footballers Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique, as well as Luis Rubiales and Aleksander Ceferin.
The digital and independent newspaper The Objective reported this Wednesday that it holds documents which attest to an embezzlement of funds concerning UEFA, the body which governs European football, and the players Lionel Messi and Gerard Piqué. The two former FC Barcelona teammates would have contacted Luis Rubiales, former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), following the economic crisis linked to Covid-19, in April 2020.
Many clubs had subjected their players to a salary reduction to cope with the crisis. Barça have reportedly offered a reduction of up to 70% of their players’ salaries. The Objective says that Piqué acted as Messi’s spokesperson to Rubiales, sharing the Argentine star’s fears about this sharply falling salary. Rubiales would then have agreed to serve as an intermediary with Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA.
“If people find out, they will kill us”
Rubiales allegedly suggested “to use UEFA funds” to compensate for these financial losses of the players, and to pass them through the RFEF in order to redistribute them. “They (Piqué and Messi) told me clearly that, please, no one should know about this because, if people find out, they will kill us”Rubiales reportedly told Ceferin. “Even my dog won’t know”would have promised the Slovenian leader, re-elected president of UEFA in 2023 with a mandate which runs until 2027.
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The exchanges between Piqué, Messi, Rubiales and Ceferin would have continued until June 2020. The Objective does not specify whether the operation hoped for by the four men was successful. Messi, eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, then played a final season at Barcelona before leaving, notably due to the club’s serious financial problems, and signing for PSG.
Piqué, Spanish defender and world champion in 2010, continued to play for Barça until December 31, 2022 before retiring. Rubiales resigned from the presidency of the RFEF in September 2023 following the controversy concerning the forced kiss of which he was the author on the player Jenni Hermoso.
