The president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubialeshas insisted this Monday that “no irregularity can be found” of his management and that is why “a lot of noise” is generated and a “debate based on something that is not true”, at the same time that he has defended the “modernization” of the organization during his mandate, with a 280 percent growth in 2021 budget.
“When there is no content, we understand that a breeding ground is created that generates expectation. That there is a lot of noise when no irregularity can be removed from the management. LThe Super Cup has been a lifesaverwe have gone from 120,000 euros to 40 million, half for modest football”, argued Rubiales during his initial speech at the RFEF General Assembly held at the Ciudad del Fútbol in Las Rozas.
This is how the president referred to the information of recent weeks published by The confidentialin which Rubiales was accused of allegedly not having accepted an offer from Qatar to host the Super Cup because it provided less economic benefits, or of allegedly having financed a private trip to New York with money from the RFEF.
“It’s false, falsehoods are difficult to defend. There was a proposal from Qatar, which was not perfected because it was conditional on the acceptance of the Qataris, they did not give the OK and there was no offer. It is false that there was a firm offer from Qatar, if they had accepted it at that time it would have been better. When confusion and a debate are created based on something that is not true, it generates that popular disapproval,” explained Rubiales.
Regarding that trip to New York that, according to The confidential, made with a Mexican painter, the RFEF stressed that they covered the trip of three federations. “It is a work trip with accredited meetings, and nothing more. If someone wants to lie, they will lie, but a rumble has been generated around something that is false, with a mutilated document, to make it appear that I am doing this trip alone. It’s false. I am accountable for my work, not for anything else,” she asserted.
During his initial intervention in said Assembly, Rubiales valued the growth of 280 percent in terms of budget. “We have passed from 3.2 million to a women’s football budget of around 25 million euros. We have budgeted 406 million euros, the year before I arrived it was 146 million. In sponsorship we went from 29-30 million to 83 last year. In television rights we have grown more than double, up to 129″, analyzed the president.
“We have matched all the territorial federations, it was a challenge. There was an irregular distribution and we have tried in record time to ensure that there is no inequality in treatment. We have modernized the competitions, we have generated 47 million euros, compared to the previous 13 million,” he added about “the best numbers in the history” of the RFEF, “with a profit of 32 million” that will be dedicated to a contingency fund to the future.
Thus, Rubiales described as “successful and unique” the balance of a management model “which is a reference”. “It makes us a benchmark that can fight face to face with the English federation, the most powerful in Europe“, he affirmed. “They have more income than us, but we add a global amount of 440 million euros, numbers that are closer to English football. It’s fair to highlight what this board of directors has done,” he stressed.
Rubiales also valued the “tremendous future” of Spanish football, with the possibility of organizing the 2030 World Cup together with Portugal. “We are cautious, but we are very excited,” he confessed.
