Spain’s federation chief held in fraud probe

MADRID: 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, 67, a senior vice president of FIFA, world football’s governing body, was being held on suspicion of abusing his position to embezzle funds from the federation, among other charges, the 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 told AFP.

An investigating magistrate from Spain’s political and financial crimes court is leading the probe into allegations of “collusion, fraud, embezzlement and presumed forgery.”

Police who carried out raids on the federation headquarters and other locations related to the probe said that Villar is suspected of organising international football matches as part of a scheme to embezzle funds for the benefit of his son.

Inigo Mendez de Vigo, a spokesman for the Spanish government, 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 reelected unopposed for an eighth term in May despite allegations of vote-rigging that cast a shadow over his win.

Following his re-election in May, El Pais newspaper denounced his “despotic” management and bemoaned his close ties to FIFA and UEFA leaders embroiled in corruption probes.

His son Gorka Villar is a former director general of CONMEBOL, the South American football confederation, a post he quit in July last year. He also served on a FIFA advisory panel aimed at reforming the organisation mired in corruption allegations.

Villar senior has overseen a glorious period in the Spanish national team’s history as they won three consecutive major tournaments, triumphing at Euro 2008 and 2012 either side of a first ever World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

Villar managed to survive the massive corruption scandal that engulfed FIFA in 2015 and ultimately led to the downfall of former president Sepp Blatter.

He rose to become stand-in UEFA head for almost a year from October 2015 when Michel Platini was fighting to keep his job before he was banned from football for corruption.