six keys to understanding the final steps of Tebas, Rocha and Uribes | Relief

Opening of sanctions case by the Administrative Court for Sports (TAD) and indictment of Pedro Rocha in the investigation of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) contracts in Majadahonda took control of an institution with a 110-year history.

With the election underway and the only candidate in limbo, the question is what will happen now.. Javier Tebas challenged Rocha’s investigation in court, FIFA is closely studying what happened and, although it does not allow government interference in its decisions, the government has taken a step. Now the Supreme Sports Council (SSC) will have to decide what will happen in the near future.. Let’s go step by step.

Will the Majadahonda investigation affect Pedro Rocha’s candidacy?

In addition to how his image suffered after the prosecutor demanded an indictment against him for not answering any of the questions he asked him while testifying as a witness, His transfer to investigative status in the case assigned by Judge Delia Rodrigo does not affect his career as chairman of the RFEF.. At least legally.

So much so that Pedro Rocha himself declared a few hours later that he knew nothing about the investigation and that, therefore, in addition to defending himself in court – this time with a lawyer – he would continue to pursue his goal of presiding over the Federation.

Why did Javier Tebas entrust the investigation to Pedro Rocha?

La Liga president Javier Tebas, who has been the private prosecutor since the case began back in June 2022, announced on Tuesday that he had filed an appeal against Pedro Rocha’s prosecution. What could be a turn of events is nothing less than the continued support of the only RFEF candidate who received the support of the majority of clubs and who, a few months earlier, decided to abandon the legal actions that he had opened regarding the CVC project. This movement played a key role in the clubs’ main leader publicly demonstrating his support and that of Rocha. In fact, they have already agreed who will accompany him in management, with figures such as Vicente Casado or Mateu Alemany.

Tebas now believes that, based on the investigation of the only RFEF candidate, his right to defense would have been violated. In fact, to this day, the judge has not yet issued an indictment, so the crimes for which Pedro Rocha will be investigated are unknown. As Relevo learned, the reason that the prosecutor demanded a change in status from witness to defendant was his constant evasion of the ministry’s questions, namely two key ones: Rocha claimed that he learned at that time about the extension of the contract. to celebrate the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, when reflected in the RFEF’s annual report after its approval by the Board of Directors, of which he was Vice-President; And denial of having a legal signature in the institution, but which the prosecutor was able to demonstrate after Francisco Goya’s request in 2020 that Rocha had a joint signature.

The judge listened to the request of the prosecutor, who practically announced the accusation, explaining to the applicant that for his “legal security” it is better to appear at the upcoming statement as an investigator with the presence of a lawyer who could advise him (witnesses bring us to the legal adviser’s room). So much so that The parties assured the publication that it was Rocha himself who incriminated himself by not knowing how to answer the prosecutor’s questions. “I was not advised,” they agreed. At this moment, Pedro Rocha was knocked out and tried to correct the situation. “What I’ve done?” – he exclaimed. He even told the judge that it was not something positive they were trying to get him to see as there was a lot of media at the door that reflected his change in condition.

What sanctions do Pedro Rocha and the other 25 members of the Management Committee face after the TAD decision?

Administrative disqualification is possible for a period ranging from “two months to one year.” after the TAD opened this Monday a sanction case against the RFEF election candidate Pedro Rocha and the other 25 members of the manager who have led the organization since September 10 last year, when Luis Rubiales resigned as president of the federation. He does this on the basis of six points included in the complaint that Miguel Angel Galan submitted to the CSD, which filed a lawsuit.:

When can they be disqualified?

The evolution of the sanctions case that TAD opened this Monday could take two paths.. First, depends on the CSD. Its board of directors, which must meet within 48 hours of the opening of the case, that is, no later than tomorrow Wednesday, will assess whether the preventive suspension of Pedro Rocha and the members of the management committee is necessary. I may not fail or do it with everyone. Meanwhile, according to sources in the organization, its legal services are studying the content of the TOP resolution in order to determine further steps.

The second possible scenario is that there was no preventive stay and that the case complied with the general administrative procedure., with appropriate time limits so that the applicants can exercise the objection, that is, declare that their actions are not subject to sanctions, and therefore request archiving of the sanctions file. This process will be carried out in any situation, the only thing that changes is whether they are temporarily suspended by the CSD or not. In the case of Luis Rubiales, the final sanction was imposed three months after the opening of his disciplinary case.

If they are suspended, will Rocha be able to run for office?

No. Neither he nor any other Board member who was. After suspension or disqualification, they could not engage in any football activities or lead any institution, club or union. In this case, Pedro Rocha will be forced to withdraw from the race for the post of RFEF chairman.. Although he was originally due to announce himself as the sole candidate for the presidency on April 15, Miguel Angel Galan’s new challenge to his candidacy will delay this until the 26th of this month. If he is not removed from office by that date, he will be proclaimed the new president of the RFEF, despite the charges brought against him in the Majadahonda case and the opening of his sanction case.

If sanctions are imposed on them, they will not be able to continue to hold their positions as presidents of the territories of Antonio Suarez. (Las Palmas) Rafael del Amo (Navarre), Joan Soteras (Catalonia), Pablo Lozano (Andalusia), Pablo Burillo (Castile-la-Mancha), Oscar Fle (Aragon – although he has already announced his retirement-), Jose Ignacio Gomez Mardones (Federation of Vizcaya), Rafael Luzan (Galicia), Jose Ramon Cuetos (Principality of Asturias), Marcelino Mate (Castile and Leon), Josep Sanso (Balearic Islands), Alejandro Morales Mancito (Tenerife) Paco Diez (Madrid) and Angeles Aguilera (who remained President of the Governing Commission of the Federation of Extremadura after Rocha resigned to begin her election race for the post of Chairman of the RFEF).

Other members of the Management Committee who are unable to continue to engage in any football related activity during the time the sanction is finally assessed will be a member Jose Manuel Molina Maza; Secretary and former Vice President of Integrity, Elvira Andres; Treasurer Eduardo Bandres; international judge Maria Dolores Martinez Madrona; Luis Medina Cantalejothe President of the Technical Committee of Judges (CTA), who will be beheaded; Francisco Goya and Ivan Bravopresidents of Alcalá and Alcorcón respectively; David Gutierrez Sais, trainer; coach of boys under 23, under 15 and under 16 years old, Laura del Rio; two members of the federation, as in the case of Thais Henriques (Equality Observatory) and Maria Martos Brigido (Zone of Equality).

What happens to the elections if Rocha is removed?

If the CSD were to remove the only official candidate for the RFEF chairmanship, the most likely scenario would be FIFA intervention., that I would create a normalization commission and immediately call full elections to all RFEF bodies., that is, the Assembly and the Presidency. This would be the most realistic opportunity to renew Spanish football’s highest body after the biggest crisis in its history.

Another possibility, if FIFA had not intervened, would have been that the electoral process ordered by the Governance Commission, chaired by Pedro Rocha, would have started again.. In this case, the five-day period would be open again for nominations and for members of the assembly, this time the current 138 people, to make their endorsements. In the case of members of the Management Committee who were also members of the assembly, if they were permanently suspended, it would be the TAD that would have to rule again to assess whether they could continue to exercise their status or whether it would be necessary to call partial elections for the Assembly to resume them. Another mess.

This situation could have been avoided if, as planned, 21 endorsements had been reserved for the presentation of another candidate in case Miguel Angel Galan’s complaint, in which he sought the disqualification of Rocha and the Management Commission, was successful, as was the case in ultimately. However, as Relevo reports, this ultimately did not happen, and many of them may now regret it.

The ball is on the CD courtwhose President José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes spoke this morning at the Congress of Deputies: “I will do everything I can to change this situation. I’ll end this shame“, he said. We will have to wait to find out the decision taken by its Board of Directors, or whether the situation in the RFEF, the federal institution with the largest budget in our country, continues to expand aimlessly and no one is at the helm. Meanwhile, Pedro Rocha moved case and threatens to blame CSD and TAD for evasiveness. The mess is over.