Another earthquake and another paralysis shake the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) after the Administrative Courts denied the precautionary measure that paralyzed the two-year disqualification that the Administrative Sports Court (TAD) imposed on Pedro Rocha. Another legal swarm is looming and sources from the federation assure that to get out of this new mess they are going to take it easy to avoid complaints, in particular those from Miguel Galán, who plans to file one if the ministerial order regulating the federation elections is applied instead of article 31.8 of the federation statutes. The cited order, in its point 11.7 states that “when the person who holds the presidency of a Spanish sports federation is suspended or disqualified by a definitive resolution for a period equal to or greater than the period remaining to complete the mandate, being this equal to or greater than six months, elections for the presidency of said federation will be called”. With this first option, the deputy vice president María Ángeles García Chaves would preside over a management committee that would call elections to the assembly. Afterwards, the 140 elected assembly members would vote on the election of the new president for a period of four years.
Article 31.8, which is the one that Galán intends to apply, says: “If the president were to cease for a reason other than the conclusion of his term, the Board of Directors will constitute itself as a Management Committee and will call elections to fill the position; whoever is elected will occupy the position for a period equal to that remaining to be served by the replaced person.” This would mean that there would have to be two electoral processes, the first to elect a president, with the current assembly until the end of December 2024, which is when the current Olympic cycle ends, which marks the maximum limit for electing a new president for the following four-year period. The second electoral process would include elections for the assembly and then for the presidency.
This doubt is what has caused the federation to want to move cautiously. Sources close to the federation do not rule out the possibility of a consultation being sent to the High Council of Sports (CSD) to determine how to act in order not to incur in any illegality in the eyes of the Administrative Court of Sport, in charge of settling electoral disputes in sports federations. If the consultation were to take place, the normal thing would be for the CSD to consult the TAD so that it can determine the path to follow.
All these moves will once again paralyse the federation and it will be difficult for elections to be held before the end of 2024, as required by law. The new general secretary, Álvaro de Miguel, has a difficult task, regardless of the regulations that are finally applied. De Miguel has been working in the RFEF’s legal services for a decade and knows the existing flawed system, but he has already encountered opposition from some territorial presidents when he has taken the initiative in various matters and they perceived that it could go against their interests.
Pedro Rocha is another link in the corrupt federation system that no government has regenerated and in which the 19 presidents of the territorial federations have a lot to say in the elections for the presidency of the Royal Spanish Football Federation due to the control they exercise over the rest of the assembly members. Rocha was one of the barons who signed a letter of support for Villar in the 2017 elections and then betrayed him when the Basque leader was arrested in the framework of Operation Soule and subsequently disqualified by the TAD. Under Rubiales’ mandate, Rocha was one of his trusted men because he helped him access the presidency of the RFEF in May 2018. When Rubiales resigned on September 10, 2023 because FIFA had suspended him for the non-consensual kiss with Jenni Hermoso, Rocha distanced himself from his mentor. Just 15 days earlier, Rubiales had appointed him as his successor in the controversial assembly in which he refused to resign.
With the approval of the majority of the presidents of the territorial leagues, Rocha began a policy of rapprochement with LaLiga that allowed him to remain in office after having announced that he had no intention of remaining there when Rubiales appointed him as his successor.
Rocha took on Rubiales’ salary, 1,700,000 euros a year, and did everything possible to call elections as late as possible despite the fact that Salvador Gomar, president of the Valencian territorial, explained in a meeting with all the barons present that the legal thing was to call the elections immediately. Finally, this electoral process was not held until last May. There was no need for the assembly members to vote because no candidate was presented and Rocha assumed the presidency to exhaust Rubiales’ mandate. His intention was to open the electoral process on September 10. It turns out that the TAD disqualified him and now there are doubts about when and how the elections will be within a system that no Government, despite its proclamations, has regenerated after what happened with Villar, Rubiales and Rocha.
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