The territorial federations abandon Rubiales and demand his “immediate” resignation

Luis Rubiales has been left alone in the twilight of his five years in office in the Spanish Federation. His great allies, those who brought him to power, the presidents of the territorial federations turned their backs on him yesterday. They met for six hours in Las Rozas and asked “immediately that Rubiales present his resignation as president of the RFEF.” They do so “after the latest events and the unacceptable behaviors that have seriously damaged the image of Spanish football.”

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To try to continue in office, Rubiales convened the Spanish soccer assembly on Friday. In this body, the presidents of the territorial ones are the great power of this organization. They are the ones with the most votes and, de facto, they are the ones who decide who governs in the federation.

The top leaders repudiated Rubiales “unanimously.” The resolution of yesterday’s summit contrasts sharply with what was seen last Friday. There were many leaders of the territorial ones who attended and even applauded him in a highly controversial image.

At that meeting, the only ones who were absent were the four Basque representatives: Javier Landeta (Basque), Iñaki Gómez Mardones (Vizcaína), Kepa Arrieta (Alavesa) and Manu Díaz (Guipuzcoan). Yesterday they were all in Madrid.

The image of support on Friday was very precarious. Rubiales saw how unity was soon broken. At the start, the president of the women’s football commission and president of Navarra, Rafael del Amo, resigned, and a few hours later one of his great supporters, José Ángel Peláez, from Cantabra, deserted.

The dream of holding on to the territorial forces to stay in power was short-lived. Yesterday in front of the Las Rozas headquarters, Juan José Arencibia, from the Las Palmas Federation and one of those favored by the Government to succeed Rubiales, and Paco Díaz, from La Madrileña, also cast off before the appointment. “If we find out that Rubiales is not going to resign, we will not go to the assembly on Friday,” they warned.

In addition, what happened yesterday shows that Pedro Rocha from Extremadura does not want to be a president who covers Rubiales’ back. The man from Granada resigned the day before FIFA disqualified seven vice presidents so that the man from Cáceres would remain the only one and therefore be his successor. Rocha has already released ties with whoever placed him in office.

The territorial presidents even disavowed the last measure adopted by Rubiales, sending through his general secretary, Andreu Camps, a letter to UEFA to denounce the government’s interference in Spanish football. It was thus sought to punish the Spanish teams without playing in Europe. The complaint from Granada has not sat well with UEFA, which will not take it into account, but just in case the leaders of the territorial ones asked Pedro Rocha to “immediately withdraw” that complaint.

“Best located”

Meanwhile, the Government warned yesterday that the reputational scandal that Spanish football is experiencing due to the non-consensual kiss of Luis Rubiales to the player Jennifer Hermoso weakens the joint candidacy of Spain, Portugal and Morocco for the 2030 World Cup, a tournament with whose organization they compete with Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay.

This was proclaimed yesterday by Víctor Francos, president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD). “Two weeks ago we were better placed for the 2030 World Cup than we are now, but we will explain to FIFA that Spanish football is not what we have seen these days. Spanish football is the 23 champions ».

De la Fuente and Vilda

The presidents did not analyze the future of the two coaches, Luis de la Fuente and Jorge Vilda, in the eye of the hurricane for their applause for Rubiales. “We have had enough with the statement,” said one of the attendees. The one who has it worst is Vilda, who has run out of players or coaching staff. Closely linked to Rubiales, his dismissal seems imminent. The man from La Rioja will give his next squad list on Friday and it is assumed that he expects there to be drastic measures against him.

2023-08-29 06:02:57
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