Prosecutor's Office asks to charge the former president of the Committee of Referees Sánchez Arminio for the alleged diversion of 8 million

It supports the request of La Liga in the framework of the 'Soule case' and asks that Villar and the director of the RFEF Raúl Massó also testify

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has supported the request of La Liga in the framework of the 'Soule case' and requests the imputation of the former president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) until 2019 Victoriano Sánchez Arminio. The entity led by Javier Tebas asked the National Court to investigate the alleged diversion of 8 million euros that the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) had to allocate to the referees.

In the report by the prosecutor Inmaculada Violán, to which Europa Press has had access, Anti-Corruption adheres to several of the procedures requested by La Liga, although it rejects that the RFEF itself be investigated for these events.

In the brief, the prosecutor states that the League filed an appeal against an order of January 23 that denied certain proceedings in order to clarify the reasons and circumstances that led to the allocation of part of the funds provided by La Liga from 2009 to 2017. Link to the RFEF for purposes other than those provided for in the coordination agreements signed.

The investigating judge, Alejandro Abascal, indicated that although they were not surprise investigations, they were "irregular" given the procedural phase in which it was requested, the investigation almost finished. The League wanted to summon both Sánchez Arminio and Ángel María Villar --already accused-- and Raúl Massó, who is currently the RFEF match coordinator, to testify as being investigated.

For Abascal, it was a "late call for new investigators" and could lead to a possible impairment of his right to defense. In addition, he argued that the proposed persons had already appeared as witnesses in 'Soule' "without providing any new evidence."

But the Public Ministry indicates that "there is no doubt" that the proposed statements are related to the facts under investigation, and recalls that it is investigating "the alleged diversion of funds contributed by La Liga to the RFEF, with a final destination, by virtue of the collaboration agreements signed between both associations in 2006, 2010 and 2014, and their application for purposes other than those intended".

Thus, of Sánchez Arminio, the prosecutor recalls that he was the president of the Technical Committee of Referees from 1993 to 2019, and a member of the Arbitration Commission for the official competition of a state level and professional nature that regulates the Liga-RFEF coordination agreements. From Raúl Massó he points out that he was technical secretary general of the Referees Committee from 2002 to 2018, and from Ángel María Villar who was the president of the RFEF. He points out that Villar has not been heard in a statement about these specific facts.

For this reason, it considers that "the prosecutor cannot share the argument of a late appeal in the condition of investigated" of Sánchez Arminio and Massó if it is taken into account what has been the course of the investigation, which was delayed due to the appointment of experts but that after agreeing on the expert proceedings, it had "a correct procedural rhythm".

COORDINATION AGREEMENTS

Violán explains in his letter that the coordination agreements are not limited to establishing the regime of economic relations between the RFEF and La Liga, and monetary contributions, but rather regulate all those aspects of the organization of official competitions of a state level and character professional.

Thus, it lists that they include the annual sports calendar, promotions and relegations between professional and non-professional competitions, the hiring, registration and alignment of foreign soccer players and other sports aspects of the relationship, such as the rules for registering players in professional competition. .

Remember that these agreements also grant the Higher Sports Council (CSD) powers to resolve in the absence of an agreement, and points out that it has full competence to enforce the reciprocal obligations assumed by both sports associations.

And it says that the economic contributions of La Liga to the RFEF are in turn caused by "regulatory regulations for the distribution of collections and prizes in State Sports Betting and other games managed by the National State Lottery and Betting Agency, specifically, of the collection of the pools".

THE EXPERT AND THE IGAE

Violán explains that from the expert reports and from the testimonies it is extracted that La Liga therefore receives funds from the collection of the pools, whose control and monitoring is entrusted to a CSD body. It adds that one of the obligations is that this contribution of public money be used to defray those derived from the payment of arbitration rights in professional football competitions, and that any other type of obligation to be defrayed through this remainder, "requires prior communication and favorable agreement of the CSD commission.

Thus, it indicates that these payments materialize "through the coordination agreements that La Liga signs with the RFEF", and that the expert reports "reveal that the contributions made by La Liga to the RFEF corresponding to arbitration fees exceed the expenses recorded by the RFEF in 7,999,013.18 euros corresponding to these concepts, indicating that this difference is not justified and that they have not been destined for an end".

Add to this revelation that the instruction has made it possible to know that due to internal decisions of the federation in which both Villar and Massó would have intervened, in relation to fees and other arbitration expenses, "part of said amount was allocated to other types of different expenses those provided for in the agreements.

Violan, in his report, indicates that the RFEF has provided the case with supporting documentation for the expenses covered with contributions from La Liga under the agreement, and they reflect arbitration fees, accommodation, per diems, etc. And he adds that the analysis of this documentation does not appear in the expert, so he understands that it must be the IGAE who must expand this expert "and determine if the 7,999,013.18 euros are not justified in arbitrator fees, or a percentage of that amount, comes from the collection of the pools and if there has been a diversion of public funds".

THE BLACK DERIVATIVE

It so happened that this same Tuesday it emerged that La Liga had requested the judge instructing 'Soule' to investigate a series of payments that this body made to the son of the former vice president of referees José María Enríquez Negreira during the Villar stage.

It is about 4,400 euros that the RFEF would have paid in various batches between 2011 and 2016 to Javier Enríquez. The sources consulted point out that in its day La Liga already requested in the framework of the 'Soule case' that the RFEF clarify a series of payments that would be unjustified, but that once the so-called 'Negreira case' was known, it has insisted on clarifying this point. .

The person in charge of the Central Court of Instruction Number 1, Alejandro Abascal, agreed last August to extend his investigations into 'Soule' while waiting to receive several pending reports.

In the last ones sent by the General State Intervention (IGAE), to which Europa Press had access, the instructor was warned of the existence of irregularities of different kinds in the works and construction of several soccer fields in Spain.

It was last week when it became known that the Barcelona Prosecutor's Office was investigating the payment of 1.7 million that, presumably, FC Barcelona would have made to Enríquez Negreira.