Piqué breaks down in tears in court: "I've been suffering from reputational damage for years that no one will pay for."

Dressed in a jacket and avoiding comment to the media, Gerard Piqué arrived at the 4th Court of Instruction in Majadahonda on Friday to testify as a suspect for the role he played, along with the former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, in the negotiations that brought the Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, for which he received a bonus of more than 4 million euros annually through his company, Kosmos.

"Possible illegalities" are being investigated in the agreements between the RFEF and Sela Sports, a Saudi-owned company, in which the company of Gerard Piqué, who was then a Barça player and participated in the competition, acted as a "third party."

In his statement, Piqué explained that he contacted Saudi Arabia through Fernando Soler, a tennis entrepreneur. And that, after negotiating with Sela, he reached a "gentleman's agreement" with the company without having signed a contract. "If the company asks you, a contract is signed. But if not, it's not essential." It was in this context that Piqué, according to his version, asked the RFEF to include a clause in the agreement to bring the Super Cup to Saudi Arabia guaranteeing the 40 million euro commission for the 10 editions of the tournament. This way, if the money wasn't paid to Kosmos, the RFEF could terminate the contract.

In its investigation, the Civil Guard emphasized this point. That if Piqué was working for Sela, theoretically the Saudi entity would have been the first interested in paying the commission directly to the then Barça player. However, the commission is paid, but, at the contractual level, it is required by the RFEF. So it is suspected that a crime is actually behind this operation: that Piqué and Rubiales had allegedly agreed to split the €40 million commission between them. Something that both the former footballer and the former president categorically deny.

In the final stretch of the interrogation, Piqué asserted that he has not paid Rubiales anything for the contract. He insisted that it is the largest in the history of the RFEF and that "in another country" they would have "put a statue of him." Finally, through tears, he explained that he has been "for three years suffering reputational damage at the press level that no one will pay for."

Piqué provides the court with 15 invoices for €800,000 each to prove the relationship between Sela and Kosmos.

On Thursday, the day before the statement, Piqué had taken an important step toward defending his innocence, submitting to the court a total of 15 invoices between the company Kosmos and Sela, issued between November 2022 and January 2025, for "intermediation and advisory" services. They are for €800,000 each and total €12 million, which is exactly the amount agreed upon in the commission for that period. With these documents, the former footballer wanted to demonstrate the normality of the transaction and that the money received was, in fact, for services rendered.

Sela has paid this money into Kosmos's bank account, although the company cannot access it, as the bank account has been frozen by court order for almost a year, and will remain so for the duration of the investigation.