Former Alaves boss Abelardo Fernandez has paid around €26k to a group of extortionates, according to reports in Spain.
Marca cite a report in Las Provincias that claims the out-of-work Coach paid three separate instalments of €12k, €13.5k and €450 to the network, of which Levante full-back Tono Garcia was allegedly linked to.
The group uploaded advertisements on passion.com and waited for potential clients to make contact, which is when they then began the extortion.
Abelardo took over at Alaves in December 2017 and had worked wonders at the Vitoria-based club, initially leading them to safety before an 11th-place finish last season.
Alaves were holding a top five spot until November and were challenging for a European place until early spring, and only slipped out of the top half of the table on the final day.
Abelardo had been linked with replacing the outgoing Quique Setien at Real Betis while other reports suggested he could replace Luis Enrique – but Rubi and Robert Moreno respectively took those posts.
