José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, president of the Higher Sports Council, has sent a letter to FIFA and UEFA in which he responds to the letter that both institutions sent him on Friday, revealed by the newspaper As, in which they requested information about the normalization committee announced by the government body to oversee the Royal Spanish Football Federation. FIFA and UEFA warned that the aforementioned committee could resort to interference. In his writing, Rodríguez Uribes values the sovereignty of the Spanish state to apply the law and is very critical of the recently proclaimed president of the RFEF and the lack of federative self-criticism.
This is the content of the letter sent by Rodríguez Uribes:
I have received your letter about what you call “Situation of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF)” and in which you ask me for more information about the “Normalization, Supervision and Representation Commission” (hereinafter, the Commission) that we will create very soon from the Higher Sports Council (hereinafter, CSD).
You should know that the current Sports Law in Spain (Law 39/2022, of December 30) indicates in its article 1.2 that “the General Administration of the State is responsible for the representation of Spanish sports and public supervision of the sector in those aspects. that are considered to be of general interest of the State.”
In this sense, and without a doubt, the challenges in the field of football that my country faces are great issues of general interest. I am thinking specifically about the design of the 2030 World Cup candidacy together with Portugal and Morocco (which requires, among other things, guarantees from the State or reliable human rights reports), or the participation of national teams in the Euro Cup and the Olympic Games. .
In this letter you express your concern that, from this Commission that we will soon create and for a limited time, “improper interference” could be carried out that would affect the “independence” of the RFEF and its statutory norms. Before referring to the issue that concerns you, allow me to convey some considerations about the context in which we find ourselves and the underlying problems that affect the RFEF, as important, at least, as its “independence.”
At the time I write these lines, the current president of the RFEF, Mr. Rocha, is “investigated” by the judiciary in a criminal procedure. The possible crimes investigated in this case are business corruption, unfair administration, money laundering and membership in a criminal organization.
Mr. Rocha is also affected by another process, this one of a disciplinary nature, for six possible infractions classified as “very serious” by the Sports Administrative Court that could lead to his disqualification in the coming weeks.
As you will understand, from the CSD, which the Law entrusts with a direct duty of surveillance and protection of public interests in sports matters and another of safeguarding the image and reputation of Spain in this area (within the framework of other more protection, representation or supervision), we cannot allow this situation of serious deterioration of an RFEF that has been immersed for too long in suspicions of corruption and subjected to criminal and disciplinary cases that worry football fans and the public as a whole. and the media. The irresponsible thing would be to remain “arms crossed”, to do nothing, while the damage to the reputation, good name or image of Spanish football and, a fortiori, of Spain continues to grow (since the RFEF carries our symbols, the flag and the national anthem).
Due to the attention with which the Spanish media are following the case, they will know that, the day after Mr. Rocha was declared president, the headlines highlighted his status as being investigated in a criminal proceeding and being investigated in another administrative proceeding.
What opinion do UEFA and FIFA have about these very serious events? Do you think that, in addition to avoiding undue interference in the RFEF, we should all be concerned and also take care to prevent the damage to its image and to the reputation of our football from continuing to increase and ending up being irreparable?
This is an issue that arouses deep concern in the Government of Spain, even more so given the important challenges that our football faces. The most immediate is the dispute in our country of the final of the women’s UEFA Champions League which, as you know, will feature the participation of a Spanish team. On May 25, 2024, FC Barcelona will compete at the San Mamés stadium for a new European title. We cannot accept that the procedural situation in which the president of the RFEF finds himself could once again undermine the recognition that the protagonists of that final deserve.
I wish the solution had come from the RFEF itself, in a high exercise of its independence and autonomy, but the events of recent times reinforce the idea of an absolute absence of self-criticism, assumption of responsibilities and ethical regeneration.
In any case, Spain is a State of Law, in which we are all subject to the rule of Law, including this CSD that I have the honor and responsibility of presiding over. Furthermore, I am “a man of law” and I have internalized from a very young age that this is how it should be in a fully democratic system like ours.
Therefore, you can rest assured: everything that is done through this Commission will be within the law, yes, the entire law.
Therefore, as soon as we prepare the rule for the creation of this Commission, you will have all the information that you ask of us and that has already been verbally provided to a large extent in my numerous conversations with FIFA based on the candidacy of Spain, together with Portugal and Morocco, for the 2030 World Cup.
We will also ask you to collaborate with this Commission, including your direct participation if you wish. This Commission, which will include independent people of recognized prestige, has a single vocation: to guarantee that from now on things are done well, both from an ethical and legal point of view, protecting the interest of Spain during these months both in the Euro Cup, the Olympic Games and in the design of the 2030 World Cup and ensuring the holding of democratic elections in the RFEF for the period 2024-2028.
In this regard, I would like to take advantage of these lines to inform you that presidents of several territorial federations conveyed to me by letter a few days ago that “the internal climate of mistrust is increasingly suffocating” in the RFEF, demanding the participation of the CSD to help redirect the situation and to guarantee neutrality and full democracy in the next electoral process (period 2024-2028).
Albert Camus said many decades ago that “everything he knew about the moral obligations of men he learned in football.” Dear gentlemen: let us all recover that noble spirit.
Sincerely, receive a cordial greeting.
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