Police raid Spanish football federation, Rubiales’ residence in probe of Saudi Arabia super cup deal

Spanish police have arrested at least six people and raided the offices of the Spanish football federation as part of a corruption and money laundering investigation that includes suspicions regarding the federation’s deal with Saudi Arabia to take the Spanish Super Cup to the Middle Eastern country.

Spain’s Guardia Civil said they raided the federation’s offices near Madrid and a residence belonging to former federation president Luis Rubiales in the southern city of Granada on Wednesday. Police said that Rubiales was not among the six arrested.

The office of Spain’s state prosecutors said that it raided 11 premises for documents and expects the operation to conclude with seven arrests and the identification of five more people, as being under investigation.

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Rubiales stepped down in September after causing an international scandal for kissing Jenni Hermoso of the Spain women’s team without her consent during the awards ceremony for the Women’s World Cup in August.

During his time in charge of Spanish football, Rubiales overhauled the format of the Spanish Super Cup in 2020, creating a four-team mini-tournament and moving the competition to Saudi Arabia as part of a deal that was reportedly worth 40 million euros (then $42 million) per tournament for the federation.

Prosecutors opened a probe of that deal in 2022 following leaked audio between Rubiales and player Gerard Pique regarding millions of dollars in commissions.