Pedro Rocha (Cáceres, 69 years old) has been proclaimed this Friday as the new president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) after the federative electoral board recognized him as the only candidate who has presented the 21 necessary endorsements, he presented 107 out of 138 possible assembly members.
Rocha’s proclamation has been given despite his status as a defendant in Operation Brodie, in which an alleged plot of business corruption, disloyal administration and membership in a criminal organization is being investigated. The Extremaduran leader also has a file opened by the Sports Administrative Court (TAD) for very serious misconduct for having exceeded his duties as president of the RFEF management commission. On Thursday, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), convened the governing body’s steering committee, which had the power to vote on the provisional suspension of Rocha and the entire managing committee. But there was not even a vote.
Rodríguez Uribes postponed the vote to next Tuesday, April 30 because the CSD legal services ruled that Rocha could not be suspended because he did not hold any position since he had resigned as president of the manager and the Extremaduran territorial company. On Tuesday that argument will no longer be valid. As for the members of the managing committee, they could be suspended, but according to CSD sources, this was not done so as not to create a power vacuum.
These same sources assure that it was a priority to first create the normalization, supervision and representation committee, announced by Rodríguez Uribes on Thursday, in case on Tuesday both the provisional suspension of Rocha and that of all the members of the managing committee are decided. The creation of the aforementioned committee has put FIFA and UEFA on alert considering that it could lead to government interference.
Both institutions are going to monitor the steps taken by the CSD under the threat of the expulsion of Spanish teams and clubs from international competitions, with the European Championship in Germany and the Paris Olympic Games on the verge of being held this summer. Both FIFA and UEFA plan to request written documentation in which the CSD must explain the legal basis that supports the committee and its members being above any federative leader, including its new president. The creation of the normalization committee has also led to FIFA, for the first time, seriously considering that the joint organization of the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Morocco could be affected.
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