Defined: What’s alleged UEFA funds rip-off involving Messi and Pique that has been reopened?

Former Barcelona footballers Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique are as soon as once more beneath the scanner for his or her alleged involvement in a corruption scandal involving former Spanish soccer federation head Luis Rubiales and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. The case pertains to an alleged UEFA fund diversion scheme to cowl the wage reductions of the previous Barcelona gamers in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As per Spain’s digital newspaper The Goal, the Courtroom of Instruction quantity 5 of Granada on Wednesday has ordered an investigation in opposition to Messi, Pique, Rubiales and Ceferin in opposition to allegations of enterprise corruption and affect peddling.

Messi needed to divert UEFA funds for private profit?

The investigation will happen into an alleged UEFA fund diversion scheme beneath which Messi and Pique had conferences with former Royal Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales and Ceferin to debate the switch of round 50 million euros.

As per the report in The Goal, when the soccer world was reeling from the monetary disaster in the course of the 2020 Covid-19 disaster, Messi, Rubiales and Pique hatched the monetary rip-off. They’d a digital assembly in April 2020 the place an settlement was reached that the then-Spanish soccer federation head would negotiate with Ceferin to divert some funds from UEFA’s broadcasting rights to compensate for Barcelona gamers dropping their salaries because of the pandemic. To sweeten the deal Rubiales additionally advised that gamers ship a Barcelona shirt to Ceferin with autographs from all of the gamers.

It’s vital to notice that Barcelona had reportedly proposed a wage lower of 70% to handle the financial disaster in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Goal additionally leaked audio from the alleged dialog between Rubiales and Ceeferin through which he defined his plans. “I’m sending you this audio with a message from Leo Messi. It’s my voice, however his message,” Rubiales allegedly stated in one of many audios.

Rubiales proposed to Ceferin that RFEF funds from UEFA be redirected to profit Messi and different affected gamers. “I say it is crucial for us to have Messi and the remainder with us. There isn’t any have to spend cash. We simply change the place the funds go,” Rubiales allegedly advised to Ceferin.

Did UEFA divert funds to Messi?

There isn’t any proof that UEFA diverted funds to Messi or some other Barcelona participant. Nonetheless, the leaked audio and the investigative report did create an atmosphere through which followers began doubting the ethics of soccer directors.

So far as the subsequent step within the investigation is anxious, the companies will probably be given 5 days to pursue the case. Based mostly on their findings they’ll resolve whether or not to take authorized motion in opposition to Messi, Pique, Rubiales and Ceferin.