The Spanish judge investigating the alleged corruption in the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) under the leadership of Luis Rubiales, has decided to indict the candidate to take over the leadership of the body, Pedro Rocha, who this Friday had been summoned to testify as a witness, and was in court for half an hour before the judge suspended the appearance. Rocha will now have to clarify to the judge whether, from his position in the economic committee of the RFEF, he was aware of the irregularities being investigated - centred, in the first instance, on contracting irregularities related to the playing of the Spanish football Super Cup in Saudi Arabia. However, Rocha now appears on the list of those investigated in a separate part of the trial, which has been labelled as the 'Brody' piece. Rocha had begun his statement as a witness by offloading all responsibility for the allegedly irregular contracts on to Rubiales and his confidant, Tomás González Cueto, external adviser and considered as the "commissioner" for the contracts in question. The judge is investigating alleged crimes of corruption in business, disloyal administration and money laundering between 2018 and 2023, the period when Rubiales was in charge of the RFEF before being sacked in the fall-out to the non-consensual kiss to player Jennifer Hermoso at the Women's World Cup final last August.
Irregular contracts at the RFEF
Rocha's imputation comes the day after it was confirmed that he is the only candidate to preside over the RFEF, and is therefore virtually the new president. During his statement he told judge Delia Rodrígo in the Majadahonda (Madrid) court that economic decisions were made based on the reports signed by the specialists in each department, although González Cueto was taken into account as an external commissioner and, therefore, "all the contracts went through him". When asked about the need to have this advice, he assured that "it was the president's decision". Regarding the alleged commissions to former Barça player Gerard Piqué over the Spanish Super Cup contract in Saudi Arabia, he stated that he found out about this through the press despite holding the position of vice-president of the RFEF.
Upon his arrival this Friday at the courts, Rocha stated that he was "calm and ready to cooperate with justice". Rocha, who was summoned at 10:30am, arrived ten minutes before his summons and entered the court alone in the presence of twenty journalists awaiting him in an area cordoned off by the Majadahonda local police. On leaving court, and with the change in his status in the case, he reiterated that he was just as "calm" as when he entered. "I have a very clear conscience," he said.
Rubiales, summoned to testify
Rocha was the third person to appear before the judge for this separate piece of the case. The other two - the former external legal advisor of the RFEF, Tomás González Cueto, and the businessman Ángel González Segura - testified as individuals under investigation. On Monday, April 29th, it is envisaged that the judge will take a statement from the also-indicted Luis Rubiales, at 10am, a decision made after the Civil Guard arrested and released Rubiales on April 3rd after his arrival in Spain from the Dominican Republic. During Rubiales's stay in the Dominican Republic, the judge ordered the Spanish Civil Guard's Central Operative Unit (UCO) to carry out a search of the ex-football chief's accommodation in Punta Cana, in which his mobile phone and a tablet were confiscated.