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The original was posted on /r/soccer by /u/er__primo__der__rafa on 2024-05-22 11:50:40+00:00.
This is a translation of the article. Notice that the original link includes audios from the people involved.
"For at least three months, the then FC Barcelona players Gerard Piqué and Leo Messi and the former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Luis Rubiales negotiated with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin to “divert” funds from the European body to compensate for the salary reductions suffered by some footballers during the pandemic.
THE OBJECTIVE has had exclusive access to the messages and audios related to this matter, which reveal that the last exchange of information took place on June 15, 2020. In that conversation, Rubiales tells Piqué: “We have to resume the issue of the funds or, at least, get the 30 “kilos” (…) to put them at your disposal”.
According to documents in the possession of this newspaper, the UEFA president held several video conferences with Messi, Piqué and Rubiales in 2020 to devise a plan to redirect funds to benefit players affected by the health crisis. On April 11, 2020, Rubiales asked Ceferin if he had considered his financial proposal.
The former RFEF president suggested that 4% of the broadcasting rights of all UEFA matches, previously distributed in a specific manner among the national associations, be restructured to allocate 50% to compensate players whose salaries were depleted by covid-19. He also proposed a “four-way” conversation with Piqué and Messi to discuss the issue. Ceferin agreed and arranged the telematic meeting the following day.
Rubiales kept Piqué informed in real time, who in turn communicated progress to Messi, who was worried about not speaking English.
Finally, the “four-way” meeting was held on April 14 at around 6:45 p.m. and lasted approximately one hour. After the telematic meeting between Ceferin, Rubiales, Piqué and Messi, several messages were exchanged between the attendees. On the one hand, the former Barcelona defender wants to send a whatsapp to the UEFA president to thank him for his commitment. On the other, Ceferin writes to Rubiales to manage his request and assures him that “next week” he will have an answer, suggesting that they should meet again.
The former RFEF president then proposed that Piqué and Messi send an FC Barcelona jersey signed by both to Ceferin as a token of their appreciation, which could positively influence the response of the sports leader. In his communications, Rubiales commented that Ceferin had expressed a preference for Barcelona over Real Madrid, which could be relevant to the negotiations. “I say this because he has told me that next week he is going to make an approach and he has loosened the piquillo, that he is very prudent and with you he has loosened the morrillo and has started to complain about Florentino and your president, but he has hinted that he no longer wants Real Madrid and prefers Barcelona…”, Rubiales tells Piqué.
Another meeting was held on April 21, although it is unclear whether Messi was able to attend because he was ill. These negotiations were put on hold until May 5, when Ceferin proposed to Rubiales a new meeting to discuss the strategic plan that “his people in Switzerland” were preparing for him.
Finally, the latest chat - in the possession of THE OBJECTIVE - that deals with this matter is dated June 15, 2020. In it, Rubiales assures Piqué: “Geri, we have to get back to you about the fund or, at least, get the 30 “kilos” from us, LaLiga and the AFE to put them at your disposal”.
Leo Messi was very concerned about maintaining “confidentiality” in these negotiations because, sources consulted by THE OBJECTIVE explained to this newspaper, “they can be questioned from a legal and ethical point of view”.