One year after the tsunami caused by the non-consensual kiss of the now ex-president Luis Rubiales to Jennifer Hermoso, an atmosphere of volatility and interim rule reigns in the City of Football, the headquarters of the Royal Spanish Federation located in Las Rozas. Pedro Rocha, the man to whom Rubiales delegated and president-elect since last May, remains in the background after the Administrative Court of Sport (TAD) imposed a two-year ban on him on July 16 for having exceeded his functions. Months ago, Rocha had fired the general secretary Andreu Camps by a personal decision when he presided over the management committee created after Rubiales’ disqualification. Camps’ dismissal was the first of the dismissals caused by the demands for regeneration in the RFEF that the internationals demanded and that have meant heavy disbursements for the federation’s coffers in compensation. The most flagrant case was that of the women’s coach Jorge Vilda, to whom Rubiales promised a salary increase, 500,000 euros a year until 2024, in the unfortunate assembly in which the latter refused to resign. Vilda seized on Rubiales’ announcement as a verbal agreement to receive 1.8 million euros in compensation, according to Relevo. There are still pending possible compensations for other dismissals that are awaiting trial, such as that of the director of communications Pablo García Cuervo, or that of the sports director Albert Luque, protected with a million euros. He has not been replaced in his position, nor has Markel Zubizarreta, who was the director of the women’s team. Right now the sports management of both teams is headless.
Rocha also fired the external commissioner Tomás González Cueto, but in this case he rectified his decision and the decision was later shared with the other members of the aforementioned committee, which prevented him from being suspended for four years instead of two. The three pillars on which Rubiales was based (Rubiales himself, Camps and González Cueto) are outside the federation, but Rocha’s strategy to stop the execution of his sanction has plunged the federation into uncertainty.
The Extremaduran leader appealed the sanction and requested precautionary measures in order to stop his disqualification, but while he waits for the administrative judge to grant them, he has preferred not to take part in representative acts due to the risk of being denounced for breaching the sanction. Miguel Ángel Galán, president of the Cenafe coaching school, who promoted Rocha’s disqualification with his complaint, warned him that he would sue him if he acted as president. In response to Galán’s warning, Rocha did not preside over the last assembly on July 30 nor did he appear in the boxes at the stadiums of the Paris Olympic Games, where the men’s team won the final and the women’s team reached the semi-finals.
“A year later, the feeling is one of misgovernment, each person in charge makes decisions in their respective areas, but there is no firm command to guide federal policy,” says the president of a territorial authority.
Federation sources say that, except in matters of representation, Rocha acts as president. These same sources also deny that there is no roadmap to follow marked by Rocha, although they do not deny the situation of uncertainty. In the federation they say that the new general secretary, Álvaro de Miguel, leads the day to day. Regarding the figure of this one, there are those who say that he tries to impose order and transparency in management, but that he is penalized by his youth and his lack of hierarchy to deal with the voracity of some territorial presidents and high-ranking federation officials.
Meanwhile, the barons of the territorials are waiting to see what the judge decides on the precautionary measures requested by Rocha. If he is permanently disqualified, the Andalusian baron Pablo Lozano is one of the internal candidates who sounds the strongest. The other is the Tenerife native Alejandro Morales Mansito.
If the precautionary measures are granted, Rocha will be able to stand for election, the process for which is expected to begin on 10 September and end before 2025. If he wins the election, Rocha would not be able to serve until the judge decides on the appeal. The Extremadura native runs the risk of being re-elected president and then the judge ratifying the TAD sanction. This would mean another earthquake and another blow to Spanish football’s discredit.
Rocha is also still accused in Operation Brodie, the plot in which irregularities in various federation contracts are being investigated, such as the one signed with Saudi Arabia to take the Super Cup there. Rocha chaired the economic commission of the RFEF when some of the agreements with the Saudis were signed and also when the remodelling works at La Cartuja were awarded. A year later, the federation is still waiting for justice.
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