Football | The absurdity of electing a new RFEF President – El Salto

More than a year has passed since Luis Rubiales stepped down as president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), and Spanish football’s governing body is still without a firm president. Pedro Rocha replaced him on an interim basis, prolonging the institutional and judicial conundrum in which the heads of the RFEF, the Supreme Sports Council (CSD), the Sports Administrative Court (TAD), the Civil Guard, UEFA, FIFA and the President of the National Center for Football Coaches (CENAFE) named Miguel Galan and known by the curious nickname “Querellator”.

Elections for the RFEF presidency were called several times, with candidates ranging from Pedro Rocha himself, journalist Carlos Herrera or footballer Iker Casillas, and each time the process began, the elections were suspended. The government approved a decree-law to regulate the electoral process and created a Commission for Supervision, Normalization and Representation to protect it, but it also did not make any changes. The Civil Guard raided the RFEF headquarters and the operation was extended to the Dominican Republic. Pedro Rocha was first charged, then disqualified and finally replaced by Maria Angeles García Chavez, known as “Yaye”.

According to representatives of FIFA and UEFA, the organization of the 2030 FIFA World Cup may also be in question.

After all these movements, it is still unknown who will be the president of the RFEF in the next four years, and there is no date for holding elections. One cannot even be sure that they will be held only within the framework of the RFEF presidency or that they will also be convened for the General Assembly. And in December, FIFA is due to confirm the 2030 World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

This week, the CSD and the Commission, chaired by Vicente del Bosque, hosted representatives of UEFA, FIFA and RFEF in Madrid. The purpose of the meeting was to find a final solution for the RFEF government. FIFA’s extraordinary congress will be held on December 11, and on that day they want the federation to have a firm president. After their usual speech, they warned the management that otherwise they could exclude Spanish clubs and the national team from international competitions. According to representatives of FIFA and UEFA, the organization of the 2030 World Cup may also be in doubt.

It is ironic that the same institutions that require government cooperation to unblock the situation have helped stall this process last year; in general, with the same threats that they are now trying to speed it up and that were already used when the Eurocup and the Olympic Games were approaching.

FIFA’s intervention was fundamental when it suspended Luis Rubiales for three years following the events of the final of the last Women’s World Cup, for which he is now awaiting trial, and his speech before the RFEF assembly. Following this decision, the actions of the world’s major football institutions were not conducive to the resumption of the RFEF. Both FIFA and UEFA are very suspicious of government interference in the affairs of each national federation and, although they did not show much concern when a corruption case rocked the RFEF, they closely followed the process of updating the current RFEF directive. always trying to avoid government interference in the decision-making process.

This protection, which FIFA and UEFA apply to their national federations, often serves as a guarantee of their independence from government authorities. But over the years, it has many times helped maintain the power of leaders beset by corruption scandals and who have at times escaped justice.

The new interim president, Maria Angeles García Chávez, “Yes,” is tasked with holding elections.

In the case of Spain, Pedro Rocha himself used the influence of the main football organizations to extend his interim presidency. In May he sought the support of Gianni Infantino at the FIFA Congress in Bangkok and, during the European Cup, the support of UEFA and its president Aleksandar Čeferin to give legitimacy to his presidency. Finally, Roche failed to avoid disqualification after TAD considered it a very serious offense to exceed his duties by dismissing RFEF General Secretary Andreu Camps without first consulting the rest of the management company. Because of this court decision, Rocha is in great difficulty in the RFEF presidential election, and the Brodie operation charge is still awaiting resolution.

New interim President Maria Angeles García Chávez, “Yaye,” is tasked with holding elections, but the CSD does not want to indulge in irregularities that could derail the process. Not in vain, the same thing already happened in the spring, when the CSD tried to disqualify Rocha, and Miguel Galan prevented this, since he resigned from all his positions in order to stand for election, and there was nothing to disqualify him for. He later challenged the election results because the terms of office of 42 assembly members had expired.

The figure of Galan is very strange in an already incomprehensible story. He is the President of the CENAFE coaching school and has been openly fighting the RFEF over the federation’s refusal to approve his UEFA PRO licensed courses. Others believe that his constant complaining, which led him to be known as “Querellator”, has no motivation other than to gain fame. The truth is that it prevented Rocha from publicly acting as president of the RFEF after he was disqualified, and his challenge forced the TAD to annul the electoral process scheduled for October 7 next year, which was initiated by the leadership chaired by María Ángeles García Chávez. .

At this time, it is impossible to guarantee how the RFEF renewal process will end. A threat from UEFA and FIFA is on the table as Spain’s candidacy for the World Cup has not been confirmed, with the CSD guaranteeing to “participate in the renewal process and contribute to the achievement of institutional stability of the RFEF within its mandate”, according to a FIFA spokesman. There is also a current Sports Law which stipulates that elections must be held during the Olympic year and for a period of four years. On the other hand, given the time required to begin the electoral process, it seems difficult to complete it before the end of the year. It remains to be seen when this absurdity will end.