Police suspect 'mafia-like' setup within Spanish Football Federation aimed at diverting funds
Spanish football was rocked on Wednesday when police raided the headquarters of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with warrants out for seven arrests, and five more people under investigation.
Police seized materials at Las Rozas, while also raiding the homes of other individuals, including that of former President Luis Rubiales. He was one of the individuals due to be taken into custody, but is currently out of the country in the Dominican Republic.
As per Relevo, the Spanish police suspect that there was a ‘mafia-like’ setup within the RFEF aimed at financial gain and benefitting from commissions. One of the deals made by the RFEF under Rubiales was the initial contract to take the Spanish Supercup to Saudi Arabia. The deal was worth €44m, and was brokered by Gerard Pique’s Kosmos company. More deals are also under suspicion though.
Elections were due to take place this week to decide on a provisional president of the RFEF until after the Euros this summer, but interim president Pedro Rocha is likely to have to delay the elections now. The Managing Committee in place since Rubiales suspension was due to meet on Wednesday afternoon, but that meeting was cancelled due to police raid, with regional federation chiefs refusing to travel to Madrid.
Read on football-espana.net
