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Former Spanish football president Angel Maria Villar was replaced by Luis Rubiales in 2017 but now faces charges over alleged corruption and embezzlement.
Published On 27 Mar 2025
Spain’s public prosecutor’s office has called for a 15 and a half year prison sentence for former Spanish football federation president Angel Maria Villar for alleged corruption and embezzlement.
Contracts arranged under Villar between 2007 and 2017 are said to have defrauded the federation of more than $4.84m.
Eight people are implicated in the case, including Villar’s son Gorka, for whom the prosecution is asking for a seven-year prison sentence, and former Spanish football federation (RFEF) vice president Juan Padron.
Villar was suspended from his role as president in 2017 because of his alleged involvement in what has become known as the Soule case, after 29 years leading the federation.
In Thursday’s indictment seen by news agency AFP, Villar is accused of embezzlement, business corruption, misappropriation of funds and the falsification of documents.
Angel Maria Villar, right, presented Lionel Messi, left, and Andres Iniesta with the LaLiga trophy in 2016 in his former role as Spanish football president [Albert Gea/Reuters]The former president is supposed to have benefitted himself and his son by arranging friendly matches with the Spanish national team and creating contracts around them.
Prosecutors said Villar chose certain opponents for Spain in order to profit, “coinciding with the rise in prestige and consequently the cachet of (the national team), derived from its triumphs in the 2008 and 2012 European Championships and the 2010 FIFA World Cup”.
The matches suspected of having been arranged to benefit Villar and his son were friendlies against South Korea, Chile, Venezuela, Peru and Colombia.
Villar was succeeded by Luis Rubiales, who resigned in disgrace in 2023 after forcibly kissing Women’s World Cup player Jenni Hermoso, during a crisis-hit spell for the federation.
Pedro Rocha took over briefly but was suspended for overstepping his duties before Rafael Louzan was elected the new RFEF president in December 2024.
Source
:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
