The National Court has decided to charge Victoriano Sánchez Arminio, former president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), and his former general secretary, Raúl Massó, in the investigation that it is keeping open against Ángel María Villar, former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). These inquiries, called soule casefocus on the alleged diversion of funds during the Villar stage and are investigated independently of the baptized as Negreira casewhere the close to seven million euros that the Barcelona Football Club paid to José María Enríquez Negreira, who was vice president of the CTA and right hand of Sánchez Arminio, so that he supposedly “favored” the Catalan team.
The resolution of the National Court thus shakes again the arbitration body, which has been in shock in recent days. In fact, the State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, ordered this Tuesday that the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, which soule casealso assume the Negreira case for its “complexity”, “relevance” and enormous “public impact”.
Through an order issued this Monday, the Criminal Chamber of the Court has ordered a call to declare Sánchez Arminio and Massó as under investigation, after the investigating judge Alejandro Abascal ruled them out on January 27. The magistrate considered that his accusation could be “irregular”, since the investigations are in their final phase and both had already been questioned as witnesses, which “would impair their right to defense.” But La Liga de Fútbol, chaired by Javier Tebas, appealed. And he had the support of the Prosecutor’s Office.
The last word fell, therefore, on the Criminal Chamber, which has accepted the allegations. This court considers that it does not matter that the investigation is in its final stretch, since the investigation phase should serve precisely to “verify if there are indications of possible criminal responsibility and if they are attributable to the people whose statement the League requests.” “And the fact that they have previously testified as witnesses is not an obstacle to their subsequent change of condition, going on to be investigated,” the order adds. Of course, for the moment it is ruled out also imputing the RFEF, as requested by the institution directed by Thebes, waiting for Sánchez Arminio, Massó and Villar to be questioned first – the latter is called again to testify.
In this part of soule case The alleged diversion of almost eight million euros from the collection of the pools, which La Liga contributed to the RFEF for the payment of arbitration rights for official football competitions, is being investigated. According to the complainants and Anticorruption, there are indications that the suspects allocated this money to “other types of expenses, different from those provided for in the agreements”, and that the former president and the former technical secretary of the referees committee “intervened” in said maneuvers. . The CTA depends on the Federation.
At the same time, also in this case, Judge Alejandro Abascal gave the green light to investigate a series of payments from the RFEF to the son of Enríquez Negreira during the Villar stage. This decision also occurs at the request of La Liga and with the support of the public ministry, who want the payment of at least 4,410 euros to the relative of the former vice president of the CTA to be investigated.
This was explained by the organization directed by Javier Tebas: “The RFEF has not provided the supporting invoices for the recorded expenses, preventing us from verifying whether these could even have existed, or for what and for whom said services were provided, their duration, the price time, or who authorized your payment […] The choice of provider [en referencia al hijo de Negreira] It seems clear what he is responding to.” These subscriptions were reflected in tables in Excel format that the RFEF itself delivered at the Hearing at the request of the magistrate, where subscriptions are provided for “coach PF. Sant” or “jobs coaching”.
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