MADRID: Spain’s public prosecutor’s office called for a 15-and-a-half year prison sentence for former Spanish football federation president Angel Maria Villar for alleged corruption and embezzlement on Thursday.

Contracts arranged under Villar between 2007 and 2017 are said to have defrauded the federation of more than 4.5 million euros ($4.84 million).

Eight people are implicated in the case including Villar’s son Gorka, for whom the prosecution are asking for a seven-year prison sentence, and former Spanish football federation (RFEF) vice-president Juan Padron.

Villar was suspended from his role as president in 2017 because of his alleged involvement in what has become known as the Soule case, after 29 years leading the federation.

In Thursday’s indictment seen by AFP, Villar is accused of embezzlement, business corruption, misappropriation of funds and falsification of documents.

The former president is supposed to have benefitted himself and his son by arranging friendly matches with the Spanish national team and creating contracts around them.

Prosecutors said Villar chose certain opponents for Spain in order to profit, “coinciding with the rise in prestige and consequently the cachet of (the national team), derived from its triumphs in the 2008 and 2012 European Championships and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.”

The matches suspected of having been arranged to benefit Villar and his son were friendlies against South Korea, Chile, Venezuela, Peru and Colombia.

Villar was succeeded by Luis Rubiales, who resigned in 2023 after forcibly kissing Women’s World Cup star Jen­ni Hermoso, during a crisis-hit spell for the federation.

Pedro Rocha took over briefly but was suspended for overstepping his duties bef­ore Rafael Louzan was elec­t­ed the new RFEF president in December 2024.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2025