On Wednesday, Spanish police briefly arrested disgraced ex-football leader Luis Rubiales in connection with an alleged fraud scandal at the RFEF football association, where he served as president.
The 46-year-old was held at Madrid’s Barajas airport immediately after arriving from the Dominican Republic, but was quickly released, according to a Guardia Civil police official.
According to sources close to the investigation, he exited from the plane with a police escort before being questioned inside the airport.
His arrest occurred two weeks after investigators searched 11 places, including the RFEF’s Madrid offices and Rubiales’ home in the southern city of Granada, as part of an investigation into alleged corruption and other crimes.
According to judicial authorities, the raids on March 20 were part of “an investigation into presumed crimes involving business corruption, fraudulent administration, and money laundering.”
According to Spanish media reports, prosecutors are looking into RFEF contracts made since 2018, including Rubiales’ agreement to carry the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.
Kosmos, a business founded by former Barcelona and Spain defender Gerard Pique, arranged the agreement for the Super Cup contracts, which are worth 40 million euros ($43.3 million annually).
According to Cadena Ser radio, Guardia Civil police traveled to the Dominican Republic on Monday and searched the premises where Rubiales was staying, taking a laptop and a mobile phone on the investigating judge’s orders.
AFP contacted the Guardia Civil, which declined to comment on the report.
Following the March 20 raids, the RFEF fired its legal director, Pedro Gonzalez Segura, and head of human resources, Jose Javier Jimenez, as well as canceled its contract with GC Legal, the law firm of the federation’s external legal consultant, Tomas Gonzalez Cueto.
All three had been arrested by police during the raids.
‘Work and savings’
Rubiales resigned as RFEF president in September after forcibly kissing Jenni Hermoso, a Women’s World Cup standout, after Spain won the Sydney final in August.
The move prompted global anger, and Rubiales is due to face trial for the non-consensual kiss, which is considered sexual assault under Spanish law.
In 2022, prosecutors launched an inquiry into the Super Cup contract after audio recordings of Rubiales and Pique discussing multimillion-dollar commissions were leaked.
Rubiales has consistently defended the legitimacy of the arrangement to bring the Super Cup to the oil-rich Gulf state, and in April 2022,
He denied any wrongdoing in a brief online preview of an interview with private Spanish television channel La Sexta conducted prior to his arrest and set to air late Wednesday.
“The money in my bank accounts is the result of my hard work and savings,” Rubiales said, adding that he had no idea why authorities were investigating him.
He also told the channel that he did not remove any data from the mobile phones confiscated by police earlier this week.
Pique has also stated that everything was “legal” and that he was “proud” of the transaction.
The Spanish Super Cup was held for the first time in Saudi Arabia in 2020.
It returned to Spain a year later because to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the next three championships were held in Saudi Arabia.
Pique played twice for Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia before retiring from football in November 2022.