Leaked audio and text messages from 2020 showed talks between former RFEF president Luis Rubiales, Aleksander Ceferin and Barcelona players Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique
Leaked texts and audio recordings from 2020 revealed secret talks between UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, former Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), football players Lionel Messi and Gerard Piqué, and former RFEF president Luis Rubiales. The topic of conversation during the COVID-19 outbreak was money.
Football leagues worldwide experienced disruptions due to the Coronavirus pandemic, resulting in lower player salaries and revenue losses as it led to lower match sponsorship money, one of the giants Barcelona FC, where Messi and Piqué played, experienced financial difficulties.
Listen leaked audio of Luis Rubiales and Aleksander Ceferin attempting to use UEFA money to pay Barcelona players salaries goes viral
According to sources, with the approval of Messi, Piqué suggested taking money out of UEFA to make up for salary reductions for “certain” players. The plan was to lessen the financial burden on players by using UEFA’s financial reserves. Fearing a backlash if the negotiations were made public, Messi and Piqué underlined the need to maintain confidentially. Their worries regarding public opinion were made clear by the leaked messages.
Corrupción inagotable del Barça con instituciones del fútbol. La inmundicia infinita.
Intimidades entre Luis Rubiales and Aleksander Ceferin:
“Nadie puede saber que estamos hablando del dinero, porque nos matan. Sólo Piqué, Messi y nosotros. Debe ser muy confidencial” ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/uHTaB5wzzd— El Pirata Moreno (@MORENOAYALA1) May 21, 2024
What did Piqué convey to Luis Rubiales?
Piqué and Luis Rubiales had their first conversation on April 2, 2020, where the Barcelona defender informed the former REFF president, with the approval of Messi, that the Argentine star was concerned about how the coronavirus outbreak may have affected his 75 million dollar per year salary. The sources claim that a week before that, Barcelona had suggested a wage drop of up to 70% for their employees, and the Ballon d’Or winner was concerned since the players would have to make a comparable sacrifice. However, Pique initiated the conversation with Rubiales to avoid their wage cuts.
🚨 “Nadie puede saber que estamos hablando del dinero, porque nos matan. Solo Piqué, Messi y nosotros. Debe ser muy confidencial”.
Luis Rubiales – expresidente de la Real Federación Española de Fútbol, 🇪🇸 a Aleksander Čeferin presidente de la UEFA. pic.twitter.com/CWBQbj8oEz
— Blue (@BlueboyCR7) May 21, 2024
Later, Rubiales decided to present Ceferin with his plan where he revealed that Leo Messi had sent him a message with that audio where Rubiales conveyed Leo’s message in his voice. Rubiales recommended to Ceferin that UEFA reroute RFEF cash to Leo Messi and other impacted players. Rubiales was heard saying that having Messi and the other big stars with them would be crucial. There’s no reason to spend cash as they could simply alter the allocation of the funds.
Did UEFA take money out of the bank to pay Barcelona players?
Even though the talks produced no fruitful results, they did bring to light the difficulties in handling football during the crisis. However, since the conversations are leaked now, they have brought up issues like ethics, openness, and the function of football’s regulatory organizations.
Why money that would have helped the players and their salaries was not diverted by UEFA and the RFEF is not evident. Investigations into Rubiales and Piqué are presently ongoing over a different matter in which the federation sold Saudi organizations the rights to the Spanish Super Cup and once more misappropriated money for personal benefit.