MADRID: Pedro Rocha was elected president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Friday, despite being under investigation in a corruption probe.

Rocha had been serving as interim president after Luis Rubiales resigned in September after the scandal over allegations of an unsolicited kiss to player Jenni Hermoso at the Women’s World Cup which led to a FIFA suspension.

“Pedro Rocha has today been proclaimed the new president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), after having received the support of the majority of the assembly members of this institution that governs Spanish football,” the RFEF statement said.

“The process followed the procedure agreed by the Electoral Commission, which met this morning, and the timetable that was established for these elections.”

The Spanish government said on Thursday it would use a special committee to oversee the country’s scandal-hit football federation, after Spanish police searched the RFEF headquarters as part of a corruption investigation in March.

Rocha, who was placed under investigation by a judge this month after testifying as a witness in court, said on April 16 he had “no knowledge nor, therefore, any responsibility for the facts that are being investigated”.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2024