The president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, assured in the Senate this Thursday that a profile like that of former coach Vicente del Bosque would be appropriate to preside over the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). The appearance of the Secretary of State for Sports in the Education, Vocational Training and Sports commission of the Senate coincided with the announcement that the CSD, which he directs, has approved the modification of the federation’s electoral regulations that allows elections to be called in the coming months and not necessarily within this calendar year.
Rodríguez Uribes highlighted what Del Bosque represents in the world of football and assured that his appointment a few months ago as president of the RFEF supervisory commission shows that the State had no desire to interfere. The position assumed by Del Bosque in the midst of a crisis of government and representation of the body that governs Spanish football has responded to the need of the CSD to protect the institution at a time of internal rebellion and the subsequent vacuum of power after the disqualification of the already former president. Pedro Rocha.
“If we have appointed Del Bosque it is because there is no desire to interfere. Del Bosque is one of our greats, the decision to create that commission responded to a sense of responsibility, with the law in hand, respecting the rules, and helping to do things well,” he stated.
This same Thursday, the Higher Sports Council (CSD) has approved the modification of the electoral regulations of the RFEF, a necessary requirement to be able to start the electoral process in the entity for the period 2024-2028. The organization modified article 2 of its regulations, relating to the year in which the elections were held, and sent it to the CSD. Before being modified, the article indicated that the elections had to be held during the year of the Olympic Games this summer in Paris. Same as the election of the president, who should be chosen by the new General Assembly within that calendar year. Now, with the variation, the session can also be held the year following the Games.
Since last March, the RFEF had already approved the electoral regulations to renew its Assembly and elect a president, but it could not be carried out because the Sports Administrative Court (TAD) alleged that it could only fill the position of president and not the of the entire entity. For this reason, Pedro Rocha – who had replaced Luis Rubiales on an interim basis as president – was re-elected to complete the term, which ended in September. That month, Rocha was disqualified by the TAD for having exceeded his duties at the head of the Federation when he was acting president after the disqualification, also, of his predecessor Luis Rubiales.
After that, the RFEF called elections again for the position of president. María Ángeles García, deputy vice president of Rocha, was the only candidate. Once again, the TAD annulled the request after upholding an appeal presented by Miguel Galán, president of CENAFE (National Center for the Training of Football Coaches) for not having declared Rocha’s dismissal as president by the General Assembly of the RFEF.
This approval from the CSD comes after FIFA and UEFA demanded a president from the Federation on October 2 within a maximum period of three months, through a democratic process and with institutional help from the CSD.
