The former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, has denied having received “bites” in his first interview granted from the Dominican Republic. La Sexta has previewed some fragments of the conversation with journalist Ana Pastor and it will be broadcast this Wednesday at 10:30 p.m.
“I am here today to say that it is a lie that I have hit a home run here (Dominican Republic). That it is a lie that I have a baseball team (…), that I have hit a ball in Cape Verde or that I have land for the construction of hotels in Saudi Arabia,” he defended in a preview of the interview that will be broadcast by the program El Objective.
Rubiales has also referred to the judicial investigations and the information in the media that affects him. “The statements made by the media and the money I had in my accounts have nothing to do with it. The money in my accounts is the product of my work and my savings,” he emphasized.
Specifically, agents from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard searched this Monday the accommodation in the Dominican Republic where Rubiales is located within the framework of the investigation for alleged corruption during the period in which he was president of the Federation.
According to Cadena SER, the search took place this Monday by order of Majadahonda (Madrid) judge Delia Rodrigo, and in it Luis Rubiales’ mobile phone and a tablet were seized.
The defense of the former president of the RFEF informed the judge that Luis Rubiales planned to return to Spain from the Dominican Republic on April 6, ensuring that he is “at the full and total disposal” of the Court and that he could “return before that date if it is deemed necessary and if it is required to do so. In fact, some media indicate that he has already begun his return trip to Barajas and that in the next few hours he will set foot on Spanish soil.
The UCO operation for possible corruption in the RFEF investigates alleged irregularities in the contracts to play the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, the judge is investigating allegedly irregular contracts such as the one that brought the Spanish Soccer Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, in an agreement mediated by Gerard Piqué, former FC Barcelona soccer player and president of the Kosmos company.
Rubiales was at the head of the RFEF between 2018 and 2023, a position from which he resigned after the player Jennifer Hermoso filed a complaint for the kiss he gave her on the mouth at the celebration of the Women’s World Cup that Spain won. In the preview of the interview, Rubiales attacks the Madrid forward for her statement in court. “Her way of qualifying my words is manipulative.” The Prosecutor’s Office requests two and a half years in prison for Rubiales for a crime of sexual assault and another of coercion.
