Luis Rubiales will be arrested by the Civil Guard when he sets foot in Spain. Yesterday, the former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) was in the Dominican Republic when the central operational unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard launched an operation for corruption in business, unfair administration and money laundering during his time. as president.
The origin of the investigation is found in the contract for the transfer of the Super Cup to Saudi Arabia signed by Rubiales with Kosmos, the company of former soccer player Gerard Piqué. After that contract, according to the complaint that began the investigations, large commissions could be transferred. A good economic peak that, as stated in the complaint, could amount to 40 million.
During the investigation of the Super Cup contracts, the investigator of the case ordered – upon request from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office – that the RFEF deliver the general ledger “at the highest level of disaggregation.” When analyzing the accounting notes, according to sources close to the investigations, a series of new suspicious contracts emerged. One of them is the one established with Kosmos Holding, Piqué's company, for the collection of a million-dollar commission for bringing the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia. Rubiales would have negotiated with the authorities of the Arab country so that Kosmos would take 24 million euros, that is, four million for each of the six editions agreed to be held on Saudi soil. The contract established that the Federation would charge 40 million euros for each of the editions. Until Tuesday, investigators were analyzing the dubious contracts; up to one day before proceeding with the arrests.
Yesterday, the UCO deployed its agents to several Spanish provinces in search of documentation that the head of the Investigative Court 4 of Majadahonda (Madrid) had previously requested, but had not been delivered. The Civil Guard broke into the RFEF headquarters in Las Rozas (Madrid) – to collect documents from the administration, human resources and legal departments – and into several homes – including Rubiales' house in Granada – and the La Cartuja stadium. of Seville, where the Copa del Rey final is being played after the facilities were renovated thanks to a series of contracts that are also under suspicion.
Two UCO agents left Luis Rubiales' house in the center of Granada late in the morning carrying two suitcases. Before, other colleagues left the home with numerous boxes. The Civil Guard knew that the former president was not at his home. It is located in the Dominican Republic. And according to legal sources, he will be arrested when he returns to Spain. Yesterday, people from his circle were arrested during the five years – from 2018 to 2023 – that he was at the head of the RFEF.
One of them is Tomás González Cueto, considered one of Rubiales' most trusted men. She was his legal advisor. The contract for the transfer of the Super Cup was drafted by the office outside the RFEF of the detained Cueto. Two other arrestees, according to police sources, are the directors of the RFEF's legal and human resources services, Pedro González Segura and José Javier Giménez, respectively. Also in the list of detainees is Ángel González Segura, brother of the previous one. He is one of the architects who carried out the works that allowed the Sevillian stadium of La Cartuja to be adapted, one of the most frequent venues of the Spanish team recently. The UCO required all contracts related to the works; some documents that the RFEF has never wanted to make public, hiding behind high confidentiality.
Lawyer Ramón Aravaca, who is a partner in González Cueto's office, is on the list of those investigated. According to the complaint, Aravaca had hired a detective agency – through a real estate company as a front – to spy on David Aganzo, president of the main players' union and public enemy of Rubiales.
Since 2022, Rubiales has had judicial problems growing. The shadow of shady affairs within the RFEF was already echoing when the scandal of the non-consensual kiss of the Spanish national team player Jennifer Hermoso broke after winning the World Cup last summer. In a somewhat surprising press conference, she defended herself from that kiss, she said that it was due to the euphoria of victory and without any type of sexual motivation, she denied all the accusations and refused to resign. Faced with global pressure over Rubiales' behavior due to the kiss and her gestures towards Queen Letizia, FIFA ended up suspending him.
Hermoso denounced Rubiales for a crime of sexual assault and another of coercion, which have been investigated by the National Court. The judge has considered that there is sufficient evidence to place him in the dock. The magistrate explained in the resolution by which he concluded the instruction that the erotic purpose or not or the state of euphoria and agitation experienced as a consequence of the extraordinary sporting triumph are elements whose legal consequences must be assessed in the oral trial before the body in charge of the prosecution.
