サッカースペイン連盟前会長 汚職容疑で一時逮捕

【マドリードＡＦＰ＝時事】スペイン警察は３日、スペインサッカー連盟（ＲＦＥＦ）のルイス・ルビアレス前会長を、在職時の汚職容疑に関連して逮捕した。（写真はスペインサッカー連盟のルイス・ルビアレス前会長）
　治安警備隊によると、ルビアレス前会長はドミニカ共和国から飛行機で帰国した直後にマドリードのバラハス空港で拘束されたが、その後すぐに釈放された。捜査関係者によると、ルビアレス前会長は空港内で取り調べを受けるために警察の護衛を受けて飛行機から降りたという。
　約２週間前には当局が汚職疑惑に関連した捜査の一環として、マドリード郊外にある連盟本部に加え、ルビアレス前会長がグラナダに所有する不動産を家宅捜索していた。
　この強制捜査は「汚職、不正管理、マネーロンダリング（資金洗浄）に関連した犯罪容疑に関連している」と司法当局者は話している。
　国内メディアの報道によると、当局は２０１８年以降に締結した連盟の契約を調査しており、その中にはスペイン・スーパーカップをサウジアラビアで開催するためにルビアレス前会長が署名した契約も含まれている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/04/04-17:43）

Spanish police on Wednesday briefly arrested disgraced ex-football chief Luis Rubiales in connection with an alleged graft scandal at the RFEF football federation when he was president.
The 46-year-old was detained at Madrid's Barajas airport shortly after flying in from the Dominican Republic but released shortly afterwards, a Guardia Civil police spokesman said.
Sources close to the probe said he disembarked from the plane under a police escort before being questioned inside the airport.
His arrest came two weeks after investigators searched 11 locations, including the RFEF's Madrid headquarters and Rubiales' house in the southern city of Granada, as part of a probe into alleged corruption and other crimes.
The March 20 raids were part of an investigation linked to presumed crimes linked with corruption in business, fraudulent administration and money laundering, judicial sources said.
Spanish media reports said investigators were looking into RFEF contracts signed since 2018, including one signed by Rubiales to take the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.
The Super Cup contracts are worth 40 million euros a year ($43.3 million) with the deal brokered by Kosmos, a company owned by former Barcelona and Spain defender Gerard Pique.
According to Cadena Ser radio, Guardia Civil police flew to the Dominican Republic and on Monday searched the premises where Rubiales has been staying, seizing a laptop and a mobile phone following an order by the investigating judge.
Contacted by AFP, the Guardia Civil refused to comment on the report.
A day after the March 20 raids, the RFEF sacked its legal director Pedro Gonzalez Segura, head of human resources Jose Javier Jimenez and terminated its contract with GC Legal, the law firm of the federation's external legal adviser Tomas Gonzalez Cueto.
All three had been arrested by police during the raids.
- 'Work and savings' -
Rubiales was forced to step down as RFEF boss last September after forcibly kissing Women's World Cup star Jenni Hermoso following Spain's triumph in the Sydney final in August.
The move sparked global outrage, with Rubiales set to be tried for the non-consensual kiss which under Spanish law can be classed as sexual assault.
In 2022, prosecutors opened an investigation into the Super Cup deal after audio recordings in which Rubiales and Pique spoke of multi-million value commissions were leaked.
Rubiales has always defended the legality of the deal to take the Super Cup to the oil-rich Gulf state, and in April 2022, Pique insisted that everything was legal, saying he was proud of the deal.
In an interview recorded the day before his arrest and broadcast late Wednesday, Rubiales denied any wrongdoing.
I have never collected a bribe in my life. Ever, he said. All the money in my bank accounts is the result of my work and my savings.
Rubiales also said he has never rigged a contract, and reiterated that the transfer of the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia was done because it was the best offer.
- 'Clear conscience' -
The Spanish Super Cup took place for the first time in Saudi Arabia in 2020.
It returned to Spain a year later due to the Covid-19 pandemic but the subsequent three competitions have taken place in Saudi.
Pique had played twice with Barcelona in Spanish Super Cups in Saudi Arabia before retiring from football in November 2022.
Rubiales also told La Sexta he could not understand how the kiss he gave Hermoso could be labelled as sexual assault, saying there was no sexual context to it.
He denied accusations that he and other RFEF officials coerced Hermoso by pressuring her to speak out in his defence after the scandal erupted.
I have a clear conscience, things have been blown out of proportion, Rubiales said.