A scandal came to light last Tuesday (21), involving striker Lionel Messi, former defender Gerard Pique, former Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. All of them would be involved in secret negotiations, which took place in 2020, in order to “divert” funds to replace the salary gap suffered by athletes at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, the Spanish newspaper “The Objective”, which revealed the scandal, has made a new publication, reporting the amount that Rubiales would have offered to Messi and Pique, to make up for the financial losses of the players at the time.
According to the newspaper, the negotiations would have lasted around three months. During this period, several conversations were held between all those involved. The last of these would have taken place on June 15, 2020, in which Rubiales informs Piqué: “We have to return to the issue of funds or, at least, withdraw the 30 million euros (…) to make it available to you,” says the former president of the Spanish Football Federation.
A previous meeting, which took place on April 11, also draws attention. On the occasion, Rubiales talks to Ceferin and suggests that there be a reorganization of the broadcasting rights of all UEFA games, in order to pass on part of the values to compensate the players who had cuts in salaries due to the pandemic. Rubiales also proposes to hold a conversation with Messi and Pique, and Ceferin accepts.
Also according to the publication, the proposed meeting with all those involved takes place on April 14 and lasts approximately one hour. After the meeting, which was held virtually, all parties involved kept in touch by exchanging messages constantly.
Until, on June 15, the last conversation takes place, in which Rubiales assures Piqué of the withdrawal of the 30 million euros.
See Messi’s photo gallery below:
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