MADRID, 30 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Juan Carlos Martín Sánchez (Valladolid, 1968) has been elected this Saturday as the new president of the Spanish Rugby Federation (FER) for the next two years, a term remaining to Alfonso Feijoo, who resigned on July 2, according to a statement.
In the General Electoral Assembly held in Madrid, ‘Hansen’, as Juan Carlos Martín is known, prevailed in the first vote over the other two candidates, former international player Patricia García and the president of the National Referees Committee (CNA) and former vice president first of the FER, Iñaki Vergara. The man from Valladolid obtained an absolute majority, with 50 votes out of the 67 cast, 8 for each of the other two candidates and one invalid.
Thus, 67 of the 75 assembly members met, although in reality there are 74, since the presidency of the Castilla La Mancha delegation is vacant.
Juan Carlos Martín is the nineteenth president in the history of the FER, since Baudilio Aleu (1923-1928 and 1929-1931) and Alberto Pico (1981-1992 and 1997-2001) were in two different stages. The man from Valladolid will have the honor of being at the head of the FER in the year that marks the hundredth anniversary of its foundation.
The until now president of the FER, Alfonso Feijoo, announced at the end of April that he would resign after the Spanish team will not participate in the 2023 World Cup in France after incurring the improper alignment of the South African Gavin van den Berg, a fact of which the leader was “responsible, but not guilty”.
“I am responsible, but we are not to blame for what happened. I understand the disappointment of the players and ‘staff’, the decision has not contemplated the exceptional circumstances. For this reason, we will appeal the sanction, for having lost in the office what we gained on the field game,” Feijoo said at a press conference at the headquarters of the Higher Sports Council.