Spanish soccer executives arrested
MADRID — The executive who oversaw Spain’s rise to dominance in world soccer in recent years was arrested Tuesday in an anti- corruption investigation.
Angel Maria Villar; his son, Gorka Villar; and two other soccer officials were detained while raids were conducted at the federation headquarters and other properties, the state prosecutor and Spanish police said.
The elder Villar, who has led the Spanish Football Federation for three decades and is the senior vice president of FIFA and a vice president for the European football organization, is suspected of having arranged matches for Spain that led to business deals benefiting his son, said the office of the state prosecutor in charge of anti- corruption.
Angel Maria Villar is a longtime power broker in football both inside and beyond Spain’s borders, and he was singled out for questionable conduct in the 2014 FIFA report on the World Cup bidding process that rocked the sport.
A 2015 U. S. investigation into corruption in world soccer led to the eventual resignation of longtime president Sepp Blatter and other top officials.
Several hours after Tuesday’s arrests, police escorted Villar into the federation offices in Las Rozas, on the outskirts of Madrid. He emerged from a Guardia Civil vehicle flanked by two uniformed agents. Two police officers guarded the entrance to the federation offices near the training grounds for Spain’s national teams.
Also arrested were Juan Padron, the federation’s vice president of economic affairs who is also president of the regional federation for Tenerife, and Ramon Hernandez, the secretary of that regional federation.
The four were arrested on charges of improper management, misappropriation of funds, corruption and falsifying documents as part of an inquiry into the finances of the federations.
“We have taken note of the media reports concerning the situation of Mr. Villar Llona,” FIFA said in a statement. “As the matter seems to be linked to internal affairs of the Spanish Football Association, for the time being we kindly refer you to them for further details.”
As part of an operation called “Soule,” the Guardia Civil said it raided the national federation’s headquarters, the offices of the regional soccer federation on the island of Tenerife and “headquarters of businesses and several private homes linked to the arrested individuals.”
Police began the investigation in early 2016 after a complaint from Spain’s Higher Council of Sport, the government’s sports authority.
The probe led the state prosecutor’s office to suspect that Angel Maria Villar “could have arranged matches of the Spanish national team with other national teams, thereby gaining in return contracts for services and other business ventures in benefit of his son.”
Unregulated by FIFA, friendly matches between national teams can be more easily corrupted. Scandals in recent years involving FIFA were tied to the siphoning of cash from deals struck for friendly matches, often held in North and South America.
Gorka Villar, a lawyer, worked in recent years for the South American body CONMEBOL as legal director and then as the CEO- like director general for three presidents who were implicated in the U. S. investigation. Gorka Villar left CONMEBOL in July 2016.
The prosecutor’s office said it also suspects that Padron and the Tenerife secretary “favored the contracting of business” for their personal benefit.