Happy with the Super Cup?: “Yesterday’s game was a great game. Today’s game has had the last 25 frenetic minutes with Athletic focused and then Atlético trying to turn the score around. I think they have been two great games”.
Al Athletic did it well: “They live it 100%, they have already won a Super Cup, they have reached two Cup finals and there they are again. This is a tournament in which we wanted the two best teams from the two tournaments.”
Today there were few people in the stands: “We had planned that this game would be played in a stadium limited to 12,000 spectators. When they exceeded that number of 12,000, they decided to bring it to this stadium and we gave the go-ahead. It looks emptier because it is a stadium with 60,000 spectators.”
Bring Super Cup to Arabia: “We are a football federation that reaches an agreement with another federation. It is a magnificent agreement for both federations. We are doing a tremendous service for Spanish football and we are also playing for organizing a World Cup and here I can talk to many federations. What does surprise me is that sometimes there are those who, for clearly positioning themselves in the appearance of being on the good side, criticize without rigor. For example, it is criticized that women do not come to the stadiums and we were the first to sign a contract in which it was mandatory, if they wanted to bring the Super Cup, that women enter the stadium on an equal footing with men. We have helped to establish a women’s league in Saudi Arabia, also in refereeing and coaching training. The changes that we we have produced here in our field are much greater than those of some people who, without knowing what is happening here, criticize from their living rooms. work for Spanish football and non-professional football in years of pandemic would be sunk and thanks to the Super Cup, the new Cup and other issues it has come to the fore. It is our job and we do it with pleasure. This country in the last three years is changing and will continue to change and evolve.”
Does the absence of fans compensate with what the Federation collects?: “When I was elected, the clubs asked me to remove the Super Cup. Practically all of them. They said that it bothered them. The fans did not believe in that tournament. In the balance of losing 5 or 6 Copa del Rey games, we have managed to turn it into a competition with a lot more spectacle, that we have a more spectacular Super Cup. If we do everything with professional football in mind, the humble will die. Our obligation is to help them. On an ethical level, what we are doing here is helping a lot with the development of women in football. The rest of the issues are political issues that remain outside of football. If 35,000 tickets are put up for sale and they are sold to men because they are more fond of football… it is something that must be changed just as it has been changed in Spain” .
Purple bracelet to vindicate the violation of human rights: “I found out about Amnesty International through the media four days before I received the letter to the Federation. If you want to meet someone, you have to be institutionally loyal and send a letter and have a meeting. Don’t make a media mess before “.
Women’s Super Cup in Las Rozas: “We have to bet on women’s football. We have been mobilizing for a long time. We have a venue designation commission and all the official matches are offered and there are others that remain vacant and we have to look for another option”.
King’s Cup Reviews: “What we want is to benefit modest football. If you do a pure draw, the 100 non-professional teams are going to pair up with each other, only a few First-class rivals will get it. We are not considering changes because it is good for all football , especially for the modest ones. We have to subsidize this football from the Federation with our own money that we generate. All opinions are welcome, especially when all the coaches in the Federation are cited and one or two are missing… and just the one that is missing is the one who speaks. That annoys. We are very clear that this is the Copa del Rey that we wanted”.
Medina Cantalejo. Criticism of the referees: “Medina Cantalejo the day he takes a plane leaves his wife and children alone and on social networks there are even death threats. We quickly contacted the Police and the Civil Guard. Measures were put in place so that Luis was calm. Saying that a referee is biased is as much as saying that a player misses a goal called to harm his team. Honesty cannot be questioned. We have to add a point of common sense”.
Luis Enrique: “It is a closed debate. The day after we have to pack to return from Qatar we will sit down to talk.”
Player vaccinations: “We have spoken with the government so that it understands that exceptions are generated in sport. Imagine that 8 or 10 footballers had been missing, they would have said that this is a 12th-century regime, that they do not evolve and do not listen to sport. In life, whatever you do, you will always be criticized. We are happy that the Saudi Arabian government has understood our demands.”
League-CVC Agreement: “I think it’s an illegal agreement and we’re going to try to prove it. It’s a bad agreement for Spanish football and especially for all those who will be in the First and Second Divisions in the future and have not had the capacity to decide.”