Story By: Juan Mayes, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport
Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas “is very displeased” after a decision to move forward the elections for President of Spain’s Royal Spanish Football Federation “hurt him”.
The news comes after former Spain goalkeeper Casillas, 38, announced he was running for Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president last month, however, according to Spanish newspaper ‘AS’ he is “reconsidering his candidacy for the elections of the federation.”
Current RFEF president Luis Rubiales, 42, requested the elections be moved forward which Secretary of State for Sports Irene Lozano reportedly approved.
According to AS, sources close to Casillas claim he “is very displeased because he considers the rescheduling hurts him.”
Local media report Casillas and his team sent an official request through the Superior Sports Council (CSD) to schedule a meeting with Lozano to understand her decision and express his view.
The meeting, which was set a reported 10 days ago, is set to take place today (Monday) however it is unclear if has already happened.
Despite today’s meeting, government sources have said the decision made by Lozano is “not binding” and “is a decision which falls under the competences of the president of the Superior Sports Council.”
The CSD will reportedly make the announcement of moving up the elections public tomorrow (Tuesday) however it is unclear if Casillas’ meeting with Lozano may affect that.
Rubiales has been in the top-position since 2018 after the federation’s former president Angel Maria Villar was arrested on corruption charges which prompted extraordinary elections.
The former goalkeeper’s home along with football super-agent Jorge Mendes, 54 were searched by Portuguese authorities last week as part of a tax evasion and money laundering investigation dubbed “Operation Offside” which included a total of a reported 76 residences.
The investigation led to a reported 47 accusations against 24 associations and 23 people consisting of players, agents, intermediaries, lawyers and managers, however, there have been no reports on their identities.
Casillas has not played an official match since suffering a heart attack during a training session in early May 2019.
He was reportedly fitted with a coronary stent, a tube-shaped device placed in the coronary arteries to supply blood to the heart and keep the arteries open during the treatment of heart disease.
The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
