(Reuters) - Barcelona defender Gerard Pique dismissed any wrongdoing over his involvement in helping the Spanish FA secure a deal to relocate Spain's Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, an agreement which earned his Kosmos company 24 million euros ($26 million) in commission.
On Monday, website El Confidencial published leaked audio recordings from 2019 that revealed details about the contract negotiated by Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales and Pique with Saudi Arabia that included Kosmos receiving 4 million euros for each of the six Super Cup editions scheduled to be played in the Middle Eastern country.
"We can debate the morality of it but the only illegality is the leaking of the audios. I see no ethical issues or conflict of interest either. It's the opposite, I feel proud for the spectacular job we have done bringing the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia." "As a commission, it is below the market value. These types of deals usually pay 15% to 20%," the Barcelona defender said while he was repeatedly quizzed by reporters who felt his involvement in brokering the deal was a conflict of interest."The audios were taken out of context. I was just trying to help the president have a formula that was financially logical for the FA and the clubs. Commercial issues have nothing to do with sporting ones.
The decision to relocate the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia has been criticised by many due to the Middle East country's human rights record.
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