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Friday, 21 July 2017, 13:50
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Ángel María Villar, president of the Spanish football governing body, the RFEF, his son Gorka and another two directors were arrested on Tuesday morning in an anti-corruption operation carried out by the Guardia Civil. Police have said that the four men were detained as part of an investigation into the financial mismanagement of Spains footballing federations, which created a funding black hole of at least 45 million euros.
The allegations centre on the improper management, the falsification of documents, misappropriation and possible asset-stripping in relation to the organisation of international football friendlies. They also include an alleged exchange of favours between the RFEF and regional directors for their continued support of Villars presidency, an accusation which led to the arrests of RFEF vice president and regional president in Tenerife, Juan Padrón, and that federations secretary, Ramón Hernández Baussou.
The current investigation, know as Operación Soule, is not the first time that Villars activities have been put in the spotlight, nor is it the only investigation currently looking into his affairs; a case in which Villar is being investigated with regard to the misappropriation of 1.2 million euros of public grants, is also currently open in Majadahonda.
Villar, who was reelected as RFEF president in May, has been in the role since 1988. During his presidency, Spain have won two European championships as well as the 2010 World Cup, becoming one of the sports major forces.
He has also served on FIFAs council for the past 29 years, but was reprimanded for failing to comply with its internal inquiry into the 2018/22 World Cup bidding process.
The arrests coincided with raids on ten properties, a combination of homes and offices, including the central headquarters in Las Rozas (Madrid) and other premises in Tenerife, Valencia, Las Palmas, the Balearics and Melilla. A number of businesses belonging to Gorka Villar were also checked.
International friendlies
According to sources close to the investigation, the judge and the Guardia Civil are investigating how the organisation of international friendly matches directly benefitted both Villar personally and the businesses run by his son Gorka, namely the law firm Sports and Advisers. It is believed that Villar obliged the opponents of La Roja to contract the companys services. This supposed diversion of funds goes back as far as 2009 and a match between Spain and South Korea in June 2016 is under particular scrutiny.
The investigation which led to Tuesdays arrests began a year ago and centered on Villars mismanagement. It shed light on his alleged siphoning of federation funds. This money, agents believe, was then used to finance campaigns to get him reelected as the federations president, whether in the form of increased wages for regional federation counterparts or other economic rewards.
Ángel María Villar, his son Gorka and Juan Padrón all testified in court on Thursday. The first two were held without bail while Padrón had his bail set at 100,000 euros.
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