Messi, Rubiales and Piqué negotiated with UEFA the "diversion" of funds for certain players

There seems to be no end to the signs of possible corruption in soccer. THE OBJECTIVE has exclusively obtained the messages and audios exchanged between then FC Barcelona players Gerard Piqué and Leo Messi with former Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. These documents reveal attempts to «divert» funds from the European confederation to certain players to compensate for the loss of wages suffered as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

The first conversation on this matter begins on April 2, 2020. Rubiales telephones Piqué, who replies that he would call him back in half an hour. In that telephone conversation -as this newspaper has been able to learn after analyzing the communications of the former RFEF president with Ceferin- Piqué, with Messi’s authorization, expresses to Rubiales the Argentine player’s concern about the significant reduction in his millionaire salary due to the coronavirus pandemic. A few days earlier, FC Barcelona had proposed a salary reduction of up to 70% for the squad in response to the health crisis, which also had an impact on the economy.

That same day, an hour after speaking with Piqué, that is, at 4:19 pm, Rubiales contacts the UEFA president and sends him an audio via WhatsApp, which is now reproduced by this newspaper. In the message, Rubiales acts as an intermediary and transmits to Ceferin the concern that Messi has expressed through Piqué. Rubiales raises the possibility of «using UEFA funds» to compensate the economic losses of the players, but both are aware that, if this is made public, it could negatively affect the footballers who seek to benefit from this agreement. For this reason, Rubiales emphasizes Leo Messi’s concern to maintain the «confidentiality» of the negotiations.

The former head of the federation points out: «They (referring to Piqué and Messi) told me clearly that no one should know that we are talking about because, if people find out, they will kill us». And he underlines: «I am sending you this audio with a message from Leo Messi. It is my voice, but his message. The UEFA president calms him down and assures him that «not even his dog will find out».

Rubiales then suggests to Ceferin that RFEF funds, coming from UEFA, could be redirected in a way that would benefit Leo Messi and other affected players. «I say it is important for us to have Messi and the rest with us. No need to put money in. We just change the destination and continue to give money to young clubs…,» he says.

After these WhatsApp messages between Ceferin and Rubiales, the former president of the federation contacts the former Barcelona defender (Piqué) five minutes later, conveying his desire to «be able to help them». According to the messages, a three-way phone call was made between Piqué, Rubiales and Messi. In this conversation, according to sources consulted, they discussed the proposal that the former president of the RFEF should present to the Slovenian sports leader to compensate some professional footballers for the economic losses caused by Covid-19.

Two days after this three-way conversation, on April 4, 2020, Rubiales gets in contact (again) with Ceferin via WhatsApp. According to the messages, they had previously discussed how to compensate the players’ salary losses. In his message, the former federation president asks Ceferin if he has considered the proposal and suggests that, if the final answer is «yes», «he should tell Leo Messi at the right time.» Rubiales highlights the Argentine’s fear that the negotiations will be made public, revealing that «he is afraid that someone will know that we are looking after the salary of the great players».

Important sources familiar with the negotiation explained to THE OBJECTIVE that «if this issue had come to light, they would have argued that it would also benefit lower-income players».

Rubiales sends Piqué screenshots of the conversations held with Ceferin, and the former Barça player shares them with his teammate Messi. In this way, all those involved in the negotiations are kept abreast of developments in real time.

On April 6, Rubiales sent Ceferin his financial proposal, in which he suggested that 4% of the broadcasting rights for all UEFA matches, previously distributed in a specific way among the national associations, be restructured to allocate 50% to compensate players whose salaries were reduced because of Covid-19.

«The RFEF would allocate approximately 50% of the total solidarity payments to the contingency fund. The fund would cover the salary reduction for players in the First Division, Second Division, Second Division B, Third Division, Women’s Soccer and Futsal. The other 50% would be distributed in accordance with current requirements exclusively among the clubs that during the Covid-19 crisis did not agree to salary reductions with their players (25% for professional clubs and 25% for non-professional clubs). This mechanism would be applied for the period of time necessary to fully or significantly cover the salary reduction caused to the players (we consider it to be around 50 million euros),» states the former president of the federation in an extensive proposal.

Judicial sources consulted by this newspaper point out that there could be indications of alleged influence peddling, given that the players involved in the negotiations with Rubiales would benefit from this strategic plan, possibly obtaining more favorable conditions than the rest of their teammates. For this reason, they insisted on the need to keep the agreement in the strictest confidence.

Translated by Cristina Dunne.