Rubiales offered Piqué and Messi 30 million from UEFA for their salary losses in pandemic
The president of the European body held video conferences with players in 2020 to redirect funds to them
Ilustración de Alejandra Svriz.
For at least three months, then FC Barcelona players Gerard Piqué and Leo Messi and former Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales negotiated with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin the diversion of funds from the European organization to compensate for salary cuts suffered by some footballers during the pandemic.
THE OBJECTIVE has had exclusive access to the messages and audios related to this matter, which reveal that the last exchange of information took place on June 15, 2020. In that conversation, Rubiales tells Piqué: «We have to take up the issue of the funds or, at least, take out the 30 kilos (…) to put them at your disposal».
According to documents in the possession of this newspaper, the UEFA president held several video conferences with Messi, Piqué and Rubiales in 2020 to devise a plan to redirect funds to benefit players affected by the health crisis. On April 11, 2020, Rubiales asked Ceferin if he had considered his financial proposal.
The former RFEF president suggested that the 4% of the broadcasting rights of all UEFA matches, previously distributed in a specific way among the national associations, be restructured to allocate 50% toplayers whose salaries were reduced because of covid-19. He also proposed a «four-way» conversation with Piqué and Messi to discuss the issue. Ceferin agreed and arranged the telematic meeting the following day.
Rubiales kept Piqué informed in real time, who also communicated the progress to Messi, who was concerned that he was not fluent in English. Finally, the «four-way» meeting took place on April 14 at around 6:45 p.m. and lasted approximately one hour. After the telematic meeting between Ceferin, Rubiales, Piqué and Messi, several messages were exchanged between the attendees. On the one hand, the former Barcelona defender wants to send a whatsapp to the UEFA president to thank him for his commitment. On the other, Ceferin writes to Rubiales to manage his request and assures him that «next week» he will have an answer, suggesting that they should meet again. (You can hear the original audio in the Spanish article attached below)
The former RFEF president then proposed that Piqué and Messi could send a FC Barcelona t-shirt signed by both of them to Ceferin as a token of their appreciation, which could positively influence the response of the sports leader. In his communications, Rubiales commented that Ceferin had expressed a preference for Barcelona over Real Madrid, which could be relevant to the negotiations. «I say this because he has told me that next week he is going to make an approach. Normally, he is very prudent but he has started to complain about Florentino and your president, and he has hinted that he no longer wants Real Madrid and prefers Barcelona…», Rubiales tells Piqué.
Another meeting was held on April 21, although it is unclear if Messi was able to attend because he was ill. These negotiations were put on hold until May 5, when Ceferin proposed to Rubiales a new meeting to discuss the strategic plan that «his people in Switzerland» were preparing for him.
Finally, the last chat – in the possession of THE OBJECTIVE – that deals with this matter is dated June 15, 2020. In it, Rubiales assures Piqué: «Geri, we have to get back to you about the fund for, at least, get the 30 kilos from us, LaLiga and the AFE to put them at your disposal».
Leo Messi was very concerned about maintaining «confidentiality» in these negotiations because, sources consulted by THE OBJECTIVE explained to this newspaper, «they can be questioned from a legal and ethical point of view».
Translated by Cristina Dunne.
