Spanish Soccer Federation Chief Angel Maria Villar Arrested In Fraud Probe

Angel Maria Villar — the president of Spanish soccer federation RFEF — was arrested on Tuesday as part of an corruption investigation into games played by Spain’s national team.

Angel Maria Villar RFEF FIFA news

Villar, who is also a senior FIFA vice president, was detained in Madrid early Tuesday by local authorities alongside his son Gorka and several other high-ranking soccer officials including RFEF economic vice president Juan Padron. Padron was arrested on charges of mismanagement and embezzlement, including from illegal contracts signed between the federation and third parties, per a police statement.

A judge from Spain’s national court who has been investigating the finances of the national team ordered the arrests. Police added in their statement that the detained officials were accused of several crimes: embezzlement, fraud and falsification of documents, among others.

Villar, 67, has led RFEF since 1988 and was re-elected president in May after running unopposed, despite being entrenched in several corruption probes. The Bilbao native also served as interim president of UEFA — European soccer’s governing body — last year.

Villar was detained as part of a probe launched following a 2016 complaint over how the RFEF had organized and financed some games Spain’s national team played. The federation was alleged to have skimmed profits from the contests.

Police stated on Tuesday that Villar was accused of using the matches to benefit his son Gorka, a sports lawyer who served as a top official in South American soccer federation CONMEBOL. However, Gorka resigned last year after being summoned by a judge in Uruguay who was investigating soccer corruption there. The lawyer had also been accused of extortion by several Uruguayan soccer clubs before he stepped down from his post with CONMEBOL.

Over the last three years, Villar has denied any wrongdoing in multiple ongoing fraud investigations.

Since Villar took over as head of RFEF, Spain has won the 2010 FIFA World Cup and two European Championships under head coach Vicente del Bosque, whom Villar appointed. However, FIFA reprimanded the official for failing to comply with its internal inquiry into the 2018/22 World Cup bidding process.

Villar was also criticized for opposing rules for the May election that him stay on as RFEF president. Two candidates withdrew their names from the race following a dispute between Villar and the federation that delayed the election. Villar stated he was against the use of an electronic ballot, even though the state sports agency was in favor of that option, citing a guarantee of secrecy for each vote as its reason to support it. However, Villar complained to FIFA about excessive interference from Spain’s government in the country’s soccer matters.

FIFA was previously rocked by an American investigation into corruption in 2015 that resulted in the resignation and termination of several high-ranking officials, including then-president Sepp Blatter. 

Villar and the RFEF’s troubles date to April 2014, when a Spanish state agency opened a probe into alleged irregularities in the federation’s disbursement of approximately 1.9 million euros ($2.2 million), a sum that was designated for the improvement of stadiums owned by some of Spain’s nonprofessional teams.

Among the other payments the federation has been investigated for is a 1.2 million euro sum intended to help Spain’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup, alongside Portugal, although Russia was ultimately chosen.

In another effort to support Spain’s 2018 World Cup hosting bid, the RFEF agreed to finance some charitable projects, including a soccer academy in Haiti, which had been devastated by an earthquake. The academy, however, was never set up.

The federation was also investigated last year for forgiving a portion of the debt of two Spanish clubs that had violated the RFEF’s own financial rules for professional clubs.

 The police said they raided the offices of the local soccer federation in Tenerife on Tuesday.

The president of Spain’s council of sports, José Ramón Lete, told Spanish news media on Tuesday that the arrest of Villar showed that Spain was a functioning state of law, even if “it isn’t good for the image of the sport.”

In January, Villar told a judge that he played no role in the decision to forgive the debt of the clubs, and scapegoated several of his subordinates including Jorge Pérez, the federation’s former secretary general. Despite a recent fallout with Villar, Perez revealed he would run against the incumbent RFEF president, but later withdrew his candidacy.

BARCELONA, SPAIN – MAY 30: (L-R) President of Catalan Government Artur Mas, King Felipe VI of Spain and President of the Spanish Football Federation Angel Maria Villar look on as the Spanish National Anthem is played before the Copa del Rey Final between Athletic Club and FC Barcelona at Camp Nou on May 30, 2015 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)