“We have been very clear with the RFEF”, insists the Secretary of State for Sport
MADRID, 23 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), Víctor Francos, stressed this Wednesday that “there has never been a cessation of a federation president” by the institution he presides over, thus alluding to the requests received in recent days to dismiss Luis Rubiales as top boss of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) after his kiss without permission to Jenni Hermoso.
“There has never been a dismissal of a federation president by the CSD, ever. Not even when Mr. Villar had the case he had, which was a judicial proceeding with arrests, etc., was there a dismissal by the CSD A procedure was instituted that led to his disqualification and that led one of the vice presidents to take up his position,” Francos said on the program ‘El Larguero’ on the SER network.
“I have a lot of messages from friends and acquaintances saying: ‘Eject this guy’. And I want to clarify that that is not in my hands. There are other things that are, which are the ones that I have explained, but that specifically is not. Let everyone be clear that I am going to follow the procedures. I have to say that I also have messages from the other side, eh? They are very conflicting positions on these issues and therefore I have positions from one side and the other that reach me to mobile,” he said.
“The truth is that the facts are unacceptable. These facts require transparency, an investigation and the resolution, based on that investigation, that corresponds to what is determined in the investigation. And, therefore, the president It has been very clear”, he assessed the reprimand given by Pedro Sánchez, President of the Government, to Luis Rubiales. “The president has marked the way. He has already said it clearly. Therefore, little more can be added,” he said.
Francos also gave his opinion on the imminent Extraordinary General Assembly of the RFEF. “Wait, I don’t expect anything. In other words, each one has to do what they consider. They have called an Assembly for Friday, and they have the right to resign and not to resign. In any case, the Government has other obligations, which are to apply the Sports Law and comply with the obligations of the CSD”, he added in this regard.
If that Assembly simply shelves the kiss without permission from Rubiales to Hermoso, the CSD would take action on the matter. “We would have to talk to the minister and we would have to make the pertinent decisions, but I don’t want them to think that we want subterfuges. There is an open investigation within the Federation and I am very interested in reading the final resolution,” he commented.
“The CSD has contacted the Federation to tell them that it is urgent and necessary to start the procedure, and that it is urgent and necessary to have the resolution of that procedure. With which I believe that the speed has been absolute. I cannot control whether the Federation convenes an assembly or not, I don’t know who is going to come out under the canopy or not,” Francos argued about that appointment on the 25th.
“WE HAVE BEEN VERY CLEAR WITH THE RFEF”
The Secretary of State for Sport was also interviewed in ‘El Partidazo de COPE’. “We have been very clear with the Federation and with absolute diligence it has been the need to open the procedures that the Sports Law itself and the current legislation establish for the federations in these cases,” he insisted.
“Where we could not go through was because those investigative, integrity and internal disciplinary proceedings were not opened that the Federation says it already has open. From there, logically, we are going to wait for the case to be resolved urgently I imagine that what the responsible people will do is talk to the two parties involved and issue a report,” Francos predicted.
“I have personally transferred to the Federation that this report has to be transparent and urgent. Because we, if it is not, obviously we are obliged to take the corresponding additional measures,” he repeated on the role of the CSD. “I know that there has been a certain social alarm with this issue and I think that the Spanish men and women need their Government to respond clearly,” he settled.
“We established that all the federations had to have protocols for these cases and we have to respect that. Because if not, why impose an obligation if you don’t respect it later? And those protocols have a procedure and we have to respect that procedure. Now, this procedure has to be diligent and what I cannot do in any case is hinder other additional processes,” explained the president of the CSD.
“Therefore, we do not want to carry out any additional action until we have the opinion of that internal commission of the Federation. But I can already announce that the three complaints that we have in the TAD are going to be analyzed immediately at the moment that we receive the opinion of the Federation, and that we are going to analyze them regardless of what the opinion says,” he stressed.
“It will also be very interesting to read what Luis thinks [Rubiales] of the facts in a final report and what the player thinks in a final report, because it seems to me that it will also be relevant to know. I have to, at the very least, have the information from her directly. The information on what has happened and what each of the two considers to have happened, at least, in a file. And then we, regardless of what that file says, have the obligation to analyze each complaint, “she reiterated cautiously.
In addition, Francos described how he and Rubiales had shared the flight back to Spain from Australia, where the women’s team had been proclaimed world champions. “The institutional managers, the players, the relatives, all the people came on that flight. We had the opportunity to share a comment about this at some point and obviously, as you can imagine, there were two factors that distorted the return a bit”, stated.
“One, the unfortunate death of Olga Carmona’s father; and another, that this issue came up with the limitation of being on a flight for so many hours. But from the messages we were receiving from our co-workers, family members, etc., we knew that it was going up in tone and that things were getting worse in public opinion”, he admitted.
“I have been talking to players, but not about this specific issue. And at no time have I wanted to interfere in that, precisely because my responsibility is not to act as a mediator in this case,” Francos recalled. “I prefer that it be the person in charge of instructing the case within the Federation who speaks with Jenni. From what they explain to me, there is someone responsible for this type of behavior in the expeditions of the Spanish team who did speak on the flight with the two affected”, alluded to María Dolores Martínez Madrona.
In COPE he was also asked about a possible resignation of Rubiales. “I tend not to comment on the resignation of others; it is already very difficult to talk about one’s own in some cases, imagine talking about others. It is his decision, which I can assure, and therefore I have the obligation to tell the listeners, is that the Government has said what it has said: it is an unacceptable act, more steps and we will use the instruments to prove the transparency in the process and the corresponding resolution if the time comes,” he finally asserted.