Spain’s federation chief held in fraud probe
POLICE raided the headquarters of Spain’s football federation on Tuesday and arrested its president, Angel Maria Villar, as part of an anti-corruption probe.
Villar, a senior vice president of world football governing body FIFA, was being held on suspicion of abusing his position to embezzle funds from the federation, among other charges, a judicial source said.
FIFA declined to comment on the arrest, with a spokesman saying it was an “internal affair” for Spain despite Villar’s years as a top international football administrator.
His son Gorka along with federation Vice President and financial chief Juan Padron were also held in connection with the probe, which notably focuses on allegations of skimming profits from international matches, the source said.
An investigating magistrate from Spain’s political and financial crimes court is leading the investigation into allegations of “collusion, fraud, embezzlement and presumed forgery”.
Police who carried out raids on the federation headquarters in the upscale Madrid suburb of Las Rozas and other locations said Villar is suspected of organising international football matches as part of a scheme to embezzle funds for the benefit of his son.
Spanish media said a friendly between Spain and South Korea held in June 2016 is among the matches that are believed to have been staged as part of the scheme.
Police agents escorted Villar, 67, who was dressed in casual clothes, into the federation offices several hours after he was arrested.
Spanish government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo told public television in response to the Villar arrest that “no one is untouchable and everyone must obey the law”.
Villar, a former acting president and current vice president of UEFA, which runs European football, has headed the Spanish federation since 1988.
He was re-elected unopposed for an eighth term in May.
Following his re-election in May, El Pai s newspaper denounced his “despotic” management and bemoaned his close ties to FIFA and UEFA leaders embroiled in corruption probes.
The former Athletic Bilbao midfielder, capped 22 times for Spain, has been dogged by ethical issues over the years.
He has been under investigation after the federation received a 1.2 million ($1.4 million) subsidy to set up a football academy in Haiti that was never built.
The federation returned the money but the plan is still the subject of court proceedings.
Most notably he was fined 25,000 Swiss francs ($25,700) by FIFA’s ethics committee in 2015 for failing to cooperate during an investigation into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively.