The RFEF’s responsibility is to support this national team and give De la Fuente what he owes and has earned ahead of the 2026 World Cup | Relief

As Dani Olmo said three years ago, when Spain had just lost to Italy in the semi-finals of Euro 2021, “it’s just begun.” He was not wrong. The national team secured fourth place with a brilliance that set the standard, and it does so after winning another title in the Netherlands in 2023, but it does not stop there: there is the qualification stage for another Nations League, and in 2026 there will be another World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. So after a well-deserved celebration of these hours, The time has come to celebrate this success and strengthen a project that was recently a mystery and which, however, is already a real pearl of the future.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation has an important a list of duties that need to be performed. And the worst thing about rolling up your sleeves is not that you have to deal with difficult or controversial tasks in order to be able to complete them. The problem with the institution is that it doesn’t know who will give the orders: those who are there or those who come. Pedro Rocha’s position as president remains as precarious, or even more so, than when he succeeded Luis Rubiales. The Sports Administrative Court (TAD) has him under the microscope and should soon (this week or next week at the latest) take a position on his hypothetical disqualification from holding office and running in future elections. The coach has already offered the Extremaduran six years for exceeding his term as rector of the Management Commission. It is these institutional problems that make us wait, although Rocha is one of those who plays in attack and does not defend with possession.

As for the coach’s future contract, he has already agreed on his intentions with his working team. And this desire has no other reality than the renewal of De la Fuente. And more than that, because he deserved it based on the results, to correct a mistake made in the past. Firstly, for only signing him until June 30, 2024, when he replaced Luis Enrique in December 2022. Because of this misstep, he almost ran out of contract, annoyingly, in the middle of the European Cup. Their first agreement had to include an addendum to extend that date, implementing that provision unilaterally. And, by the way, extend it until the end of the 2026 World Cup. But even in this case there is something to talk about…

De la Fuente earns 600,000 euros, while his employees earn an average of 150,000 euros.with notable differences between one assistant and another. Amounts that no one wanted to touch yet, in case TAD perceived this as another excess during the transition period. But the truth is that These figures are a far cry from the salaries received by previous selectors. The reason is that his promotion was done from within (he was in the U-21) and, as is usually the case in any company in the world, internal trust is less valuable than when signing a contract from outside. The coach didn’t want to make a big deal about it, but the truth is he was never happy.. And now, at least, he already has Rocha’s promise that he wants to sign him until 2028 (as announced by Joaquin Maroto) and triple that salary, already short for the champion of the Nations League and the European Cup.

More wood

De la Fuente’s case is not the only one that the current president of sports management will have to deal with. In May, he fired Albert Luque in an unpleasant way, via burofax., director of the national team, remains under investigation in The Rubiales Case and receive a prison sentence from the prosecutor’s office. And since then, although the coach has publicly stated that a replacement must be found as soon as possible, internally he has already informed his staff that he does not want any external agent with such a short adaptation time to be present at the European Cup, as Relevo and extended have shown: in addition, Mateu Alemany is the candidate chosen to inherit these responsibilities.

However, despite the fact that in some sectors the urgency of the agreement was sold, Alemany preferred to strategically wait. If he accepts the RFEF proposal, which has been on the table for weeks with the approval of De la Fuente and even Javier Tebas, it is for to lead a much more ambitious organisational structure in which he will be responsible for both men’s and women’s football, rather than the way it has been done to date.. His plan will have four pillars, from which the lower categories and preparation will also branch out. And above all, there will be sacrifices and even more signings. Especially after the departure of Marquel Zubizarreta.

But Alemany also wants to wait and see what happens with Rocha and TAD, as if he is disqualified, as most managers believe, he may return to his original approaches. The fact that Rafa del Amo in the women’s team and Pablo Lozano in the men’s team want to maintain their skills sometimes leaves him cold. And this initial mentality, which remains hidden, is nothing more than the oblivion of purely sporting issues – with the post of vice-president, which will cover everything that affects the various teams, players and coaches – and run as a presidential candidate. It was his biggest dream a few months ago, and the path is not yet dead, two months before the next presidential and assembly elections. No one believes that Yaye, the vice president who will replace Rocha if he is disqualified, will be able to hold on to the post and lead the presidential term in 2024-28.

It would start with a lot of work.

Whatever position you hold, Alemany will be responsible, among other things, for negotiating the next bonuses with Mora, Rodrigo, Carvajal, Olmo and Oyarzabal. Knowing also that this new triumph gave the captains strength. For the just finished Eurocup Employees received 40% of the total revenue billed by RFEF, which rose to 28.5 million euros.. The 11.4 received were divided between 33 parties, each of which received almost 400,000 euros. 26 players will receive one of these pieces of the whole pie, like De la Fuente, while the rest of the staff (5 people) will receive 50%. Another full bonus is distributed among all the workers who took part in the expedition to Germany (physiotherapists, doctors, signalmen, props…). So the bonuses for the World Cup will certainly increase, since the prizes will be greater, the pressure that the players can exert, and the importance of the goal to be achieved. However, An agreement between all participating teams prevents the prizes from varying more than 5-10%, so that all teams compete under the same conditions and motivation.

In the background, with less urgency but also with considerable determination, the RFEF must strengthen connections between the lower categories and the Absolute. And important decisions await us ahead.While De la Fuente makes it clear that some of the U21 players are already at the level needed to integrate into the first team, wants to raise the level and competence of the base. And this is because the quarry has the weight it used to have at all levels, and little by little and for various reasons it has been devalued. In Las Rozas they have not won a European or world title in various categories for five years, and there has been a dance between the coaches with some traumatic exits. And it even happens that players like Fermin have not been discovered before or that, in the case of Lamine Jamal, there were many doubts about how to give him a place in various teams, when in fact, as has been shown, he was fodder. .elite gun.