The counting of the votes in the elections to the Board of Directors of the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE) is taking longer than expected, in true American style. And it has its reasons. As AS has learned, at this time, almost 24 hours after the polls closed to choose between the re-election of David Aganzo or the arrival to the presidency of Gaizka Toquero, only about 1,700 of the 5,000 votes that arrived by mail had been collated. For this reason, it will be almost impossible for the results to be known this Saturday since the Electoral Table stopped at 6:30 a.m. to rest, after a long night in which the polls were guarded by members of security, and will not resume the count until 4:00 p.m. Some estimates, by pure rule of three, consider that it will take about 31 hours to finish the process and that, for this reason, until this morning or even Sunday morning the winner will not be known.
The face-to-face voting began at 10:00 on Friday and lasted until 18:00. Of the total number of players who were called to the polls, 6.48% belonged to First and Second, 15.47% to Second B, 38.82% to Third and lower categories and 3.36% to First , Second and National female. Of these, 9.31% reside abroad. The remaining 26.56% are retired or without equipment. Yesterday morning, players and former players such as Toni Moral, Cota, Riki, Álex Pérez, Pedro Jaro, Roberto Fresnedoso were seen by AFE … Others, less known, had some difficulty finding the headquarters since it is buried between scaffolding and, perhaps, because it was his first visit to it.
The delay in knowing the results is due to the fact that there is a large majority of votes by mail (there have only been 112 votes in person) and each one of those votes must be checked well (not counted) before starting to point to which candidacy, that of Aganzo or Toquero, each vote goes. The votes of the players who requested until March 18 to speak remotely, after receiving all the relevant documentation by courier, had to include their ballot in an envelope that, in turn, goes inside a larger one with the essential requirements to be able to vote by mail (ID, authorization, address and approval of the notary's office, etc.) and that each one delivered to the same messenger who brought the documentation. Therefore, once these votes were received until April 6, they are now checking their legality one by one so that everything is carried out in accordance with the electoral law. Then, all together, respecting anonymity, they will be added to the ballot box with the face-to-face votes to recount, and yes, to whom each ballot is added.
AFE explained the delay of the Electoral Table (statement):
“Statement on the electoral process to members of the Board of Directors of the Association of Spanish Footballers:
The Association of Spanish Footballers wants to communicate the following in relation to the electoral process to elect president and members of the Board of Directors:
• The Electoral Table, the competent body for counting the votes, decided to suspend the work of opening and entering the ballot box for voting by mail at 06:30 am on Saturday, April 10, as well as to resume said work at 4:00 p.m. today.
• The Electoral Table will establish the work and rest hours that it deems appropriate at the time of carrying out the aforementioned process and subsequent counting of the votes.
• At the time of issuing this communication, the vote counting process has not yet begun because the mandatory procedures are being carried out to validate those issued by mail, which must later be entered in the ballot box.
• The votes are being guarded at all times by the Electoral Table, the auditors of both candidates and security personnel.
• AFE wants to remember that the three members of the Electoral Table were chosen by lot from among all the affiliates of the Association.
• To conclude, AFE will continue to promptly inform its affiliates of everything related to this electoral process, complying at all times with what the Electoral Board decides. “
Psychological victory
After the massive vote by mail of a large part of the 11,908 affiliates, yesterday it was the turn for the two candidates to exercise their right in person. Gaizka Toquero, the former Athletic, Alavés and Zaragoza player who retired 18 months ago, was the first to go to the polls at 12:40 am accompanied by his trusted team. After arriving in the capital yesterday and staying in a hotel on the outskirts, he made an appearance without making much noise and accompanied by his work team. David Aganzo, for his part, appeared a few minutes later, becoming only a hundred meters from his opponent when he was already leaving the facilities. The former Madrid striker came surrounded by his Praetorian guard with Iker Casillas, José Antonio Camacho and Míchel at the helm. Already in the afternoon, a few minutes before the polls close, Luis Rubiales (RFEF) appeared, to whom all have pointed out, without him pronouncing or confirming it, as the great ideologue of Toquero's candidacy
First elections with two candidates
There is finally some excitement after AFE's 43-year history. Since Quino defeated Ángel María Villar in 1978, the single candidacy has always prevailed. The first president was until 1982, although he was relieved for a year by Asensio. Then Iriarte arrived. There, the players did vote since, despite being the only candidate, their legality was questioned for having remained a member of the management board. Gerardo González succeeded him (1988) until he withdrew his candidacy in 2010 due to mistrust with his board of directors, so he left Rubiales free. The president of the RFEF appointed Aganzo, with whom his relationship has cooled, to succeed him and then the Assembly ratified him with an overwhelming majority.