The governance and reputational crisis installed in the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has brought Vicente del Bosque back to the forefront of the questioned institution, who returns to Las Rozas at the hands of the Spanish Government. The former coach, world champion in 2010 and European champion in 2012, was appointed yesterday by Pilar Alegría, Minister of Culture and Sports, as president of the Normalization, Representation and Supervision Commission created by the Higher Sports Council (CSD) to protect the day-to-day life of the RFEF. The institution is now chaired by Pedro Rocha, accused in Operation Brodie and with a file for very serious misconduct opened by the Sports Administrative Court (TAD).
Del Bosque has confirmed to this newspaper that the first and only condition he set for holding the position was not to receive any salary. Rocha approved for himself an annual salary of nearly 700,000 euros, money that he did not want to give up either when he was president after Luis Rubiales was suspended by FIFA, or when he became president of the RFEF management committee after the resignation of the former leader. Granada.
“It is a pride to be able to announce that the person who will exercise the presidency and representation is Vicente del Bosque. He is going to be the face and representation of Spanish football,” said Pilar Alegría after the Council of Ministers. The Government has sought to improve the image of the federation of one of the most valued figures in football and Spanish society due to his prestige and good nature. Del Bosque’s name was on the table from the first moment to preside over the aforementioned commission and represent the federation in the boxes of the next Euro Cup and the Olympic Games. “I would dare to say that he represents the best of football in our country, not only because of his sporting successes. He is a man loved and respected by the entire field of football and by all citizens in general. “He is the clearest representation of a good person, of great human quality and an example of honesty,” said Alegría, who also thanked him for “his commitment to sport and to his country.”
The appointment occurs in the midst of the fight between the RFEF and the CSD regarding the commission that Del Bosque will now chair and whose creation was announced last Thursday, in the midst of the federation crisis. “The situation of the Spanish Football Federation requires high-mindedness and the Government is acting with seriousness, determination and responsibility. With the creation of this Commission, the CSD preserves the general interest, in order to restore the reputation, good name and image of Spanish football and culminate the electoral process with a renewed Assembly for the period 2024-2028,” said the president of the CSD, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes.
The CSD’s assertion that the members of this commission would be above the federation leaders caused the RFEF to request the intervention of FIFA and UEFA in the face of possible government interference. The response of both institutions was to send a letter last Friday to Rodríguez Uribes in which they requested, in five questions, information about the normalization commission and threatened to take measures if the response was not satisfactory and did not occur before the 5th. of May. Rodríguez Uribes responded with a forceful letter in which he asserted the sovereignty of the Spanish State and invited FIFA and UEFA to participate in the composition of the normalization committee.
Not accepting the commission promoted by the CSD may contradict the agreement previously signed by Rocha, the president of the Galician territorial, Rafael Louzán, and Alejandro Blanco, president of the Spanish Olympic Committee. The document, advanced by Reliefand also in the possession of this newspaper, said in its third point: “In the face of the great future challenges, such as the organization of the 2030 World Cup, the European Championship and the celebration of the Paris Olympic Games, willingness to collaborate with the Commission that appoint the Higher Sports Council, which ensures transparency in the electoral process and the proper functioning of the Royal Spanish Football Federation.”
The next thing that Rodríguez Uribes learned about after the signing of this agreement was that Rocha ordered UEFA and FIFA to be notified of these possible government interferences in the management of the federation. Federal sources assure that the agreement did not provide for the members of the commission to have hierarchical ascendancy over its leaders.
The territorial barons in favor of Rocha welcome Del Bosque and are not against him occupying a place in the box at the next Euro Cup, but they also slip that the president of the RFEF will also attend. The order to the Government, under the protection that FIFA and UEFA can expel Spanish teams and clubs from their competitions, is big.
The CSD can still provisionally suspend Rocha and the members of the managing committee until the TAD resolves the file opened against him for exceeding his duties when he was acting president. The CSD board of directors was going to meet yesterday to vote on it, but the conclave was finally postponed because the TAD has requested 40 additional documents, which will be required from the RFEF. These are minutes, contracts, reports, files and other types of documentation. In case he was suspended, Rocha appointed the former soccer player María Angeles García Chaves, Yaye, as second vice president, wife of Alberto Montes, former secretary of the Extremaduran territory that Rocha presided over.
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