BarcelonaOnce the World Cup final ended in which Spain was proclaimed champion, Luis Rubiales couldn’t hold back and celebrated the victory by touching his crotch in the Sydney stadium box. Although it was inappropriate behavior, it was put in the background when, during the medal presentation, he held Jennifer Hermoso’s head and forced a kiss on her mouth that “did not like” the recipient, according to her she expressed herself minutes later, in the dressing room.
Controversy erupted and the barrage of criticism came from all areas of society. Faced with this scenario, the presidents of the territorial federations met on Tuesday afternoon to explore how they could show their support for Rubiales. The initial idea was to write a letter denouncing the unfair treatment the leader had suffered and highlighting his virtues, but it did not come to fruition due to the fact that some of those involved did not want to sign it.
It was then that they decided that the best alternative was the extraordinary face-to-face assembly that will be held this Friday at 12 at the Ciutat Esportiva de Las Rozas. This is the sovereign body that chooses and renews the mandates that govern the most important body of football in Spain, on which two official professional competitions (King’s Cup and Supercopa), the non-professional state categories, the national teams, the arbitration and the disciplinary committees that decide, for example, whether Robert Lewandowski should be banned for two or three matches for touching his nose.
140 people vote for the president of the RFEF
The assembly of the RFEF is made up of 140 members, 20 of whom are fixed and the rest, variable. The 20 fixed ones are the presidents of the 19 territorial federations plus the president of the RFEF itself, which in this case is Luis Rubiales, while the variables are distributed as follows: 49 places for clubs, 32 for footballers, 16 for coaches, 11 for referees and 12 for futsal. They are variable because each group in question, especially the non-professionals, chooses its representatives with the approval of the president of each territory. Of the total, the professional clubs are in the minority and not fully represented: today there is Barça, but not Real Madrid. Despite being invited, the Catalan club will not go to the assembly on Friday, citing incompatibilities with the agenda of the president, Joan Laporta. Nor has he publicly condemned the events pending the outcome of this meeting in order to take a position.
The functioning of the assembly leaves clear evidence: the vote of a professional football club is worth the same as that of a futsal representative.
“The presidents of the federations know which people are similar to their preferences,” a source familiar with the football corridors tells ARA, who concludes: “Most of the representatives of the groups that end up in the assembly have been selected by hand and have a conditional vote”. Rubiales, who in 2022 multiplied his annual salary up to 676,000 euros after his talks with Gerard Piqué to bring the Super Cup to Saudi Arabia escalated, became president in place of Ángel María Villar on May 17 2018. The former Basque president, who held the chair of state football for almost three decades, had to resign in 2017 due to disqualification when the Soule case broke and he was jailed. Faced with this scenario, the current leader, who had made a career in offices as president of the AFE, prevailed against Juan Luis Larrea against all odds by 80 votes to 56. The members of that assembly had been elected during Villar’s term.
Rain of millions to buy the loyalty of territorial presidents
The RFEF is a private association that receives money from many areas. In 2022, it broke the revenue record with 437 million euros. More than 40% of these come from clubs in the Spanish league. The rest correspond to television rights for the Spanish Super Cup or the Copa del Rey, arbitrations, the Spanish national team or subsidies from the Spanish government. When the campaign ends, the budget is left at zero and the profits are distributed among the clubs according to the category to which they belong or are invested for the benefit of the entity.
Managing such a high financial stake offers the opportunity to win everyone over through generous payouts. To give an example: each territorial president pays 100,000 euros per year from the RFEF in terms of attendance at a strategic plan course that they only have to take once. Money that each president can manage in the way he sees fit and that goes aside from the money he receives from his own organization. Officials also benefit from the possibility of attending national team matches, international championships or sporting events related to the RFEF with accommodation and expenses and meals included. To this must be added the 3,000 euros per month to attend the 6 commissions that are held in Madrid every month.
All this regime invites the presidents of the territorials to be aligned with the power from above, in this case represented by Rubiales, to be able to extend their mandate.
The Catalan Football Federation, an ally of Rubiales
Joan Soteras, current president of the Catalan Football Federation (FCF), is one of the many right-hand men Rubiales has throughout Spain. The Sabadellian is vice-president of the RFEF and received the support of the Andalusian president in the recent Catalan elections, which ended up in the courts due to alleged irregularities in the process. The income of the FCF is mainly made up of the fees of the players and the federated clubs and the funding it receives from the RFEF.
On the other hand, the FCF was also torn apart following the complaint by Paquita Linares, the only woman on the penultimate board of directors of Soteras. He denounced the vice-president Josep Llaó and the administrator José Miguel Calle for sexual harassment and Soteras himself for workplace harassment. The judicial process remains open pending the holding of the trial.
2023-08-24 05:45:31
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