Ololade Adeyanju/
Former Spanish footballer, Gerard Piqué, has been fined €200,000 after Spain’s financial regulator found him guilty of insider trading linked to a company takeover deal.
Spain’s market regulator, the CNMV, announced on Monday that Piqué committed what it described as a “very serious offence” after buying shares in a workplace health and safety company shortly before news of a takeover became public.
According to the regulator, Piqué bought more than 104,000 shares in Aspy Global Services on January 20, 2021, after businessman, Francisco José Elías Navarro, allegedly informed him that healthcare company Atrys Health was in talks to acquire Aspy.
The negotiations became public two days later, after the stock market closed.
Atrys officially launched a €223 million takeover bid for Aspy on January 26, 2021.
Aspy’s share price rose by nearly 20 percent between the day Piqué bought the shares and January 27, when he sold them.
The regulator did not disclose how much profit the former FC Barcelona defender made from the trade.
The CNMV also fined Elías Navarro €100,000 for unlawfully sharing confidential information linked to the takeover discussions.
Both men have the right to challenge the ruling and penalties before Spain’s National High Court.
Piqué, who won the 2010 FIFA World Cup with Spain national football team, retired from football in 2022 after a long career at Barcelona.
He later launched the Kings League, a seven-a-side football competition that has gained popularity online.
The case adds to a growing list of insider trading scandals involving high-profile figures in sport.
In 2016, golfer, Phil Mickelson, agreed to repay nearly $931,000 in profits after trading shares in Dean Foods based on confidential information linked to a corporate restructuring.
Although he was not charged with wrongdoing, sports gambler, William Walters, was later jailed over the scheme before receiving clemency from Donald Trump.
Last year, former Tottenham Hotspur owner, Joe Lewis, also received a presidential pardon from Trump after pleading guilty to insider trading offences in the United States.
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