Spain’s Friendlies Investigated After The Spanish FA Was Arrested On Corruption Charges
Jul 19, 2017 at 11:46 AM
The fight against corruption is making itself heard in the football fraternity and it is shocking to see the number of incidents they have taken over the in the last couple of months.
There were a few cases where anti-corruption agencies have found enough evidence to charge even the highest of the officials for clubs across the world and this time the scandal has hit the Spanish side.
Spanish FA president arrested
The footballing world yesterday woke up to the news that an anti-corruption operation, ordered by Spain’s National High Court found a lot wrong with the way the Spanish FA is run.
In the presence of Judge Santiago Pedraz, the anti-corruption operation led to arrests of Spanish FA president Angel Maria Villar and of his son Gorka, amongst others.
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According to reports from Spanish news outfit Marca, Villar was arrested at around 08:00 CET by Unidad Central Operativa – Central Operative Unit – agents.
It is also reported that Juan Padron, the economic vice-president of the Spanish FA, was also arrested.
It is also understood that searches have also been carried out at the national federation’s headquarters, at the Tenerife federation headquarters and at those in Valencia and Ceuta as well.
Marca also revealed that Villar had been taken from his house to the federation’s offices at Las Rozas, where the investigations are being carried out
The Spanish national team friendlies that took place not too long ago are reportedly the major reason for these arrests.
It is claimed that the crimes include improper management, falsifying documents, private corruption, misappropriation and possible asset stripping, all in relation with Spain national team friendlies.
Matches under the scanner
Though it was not initially clear as to the games that led to these arrests, Marca has later revealed two matches in particular that caught the eye of the anti-corruption unit.
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The Spain vs Bosnia match which took place in Switzerland on May 29, 2016, and the Spain vs South Korea fixture held in Austria just a few days later on June 1, 2016, have both been circled in red, as reported by the Spanish news outfit.
Both games were played as a part of the preparation for the EURO 2016 last year and it is understood that both matches have been flagged as suspicious going forward in the investigation.
The report claims that Villar only organised these matches to compensate for the contracting of services and other commercial relationships which benefitted his son Gorka, a specialist in sports law”.