Judge Alejandro Abascal agreed to extend the investigation within the framework of the so called mood management connected to Angel Maria Villar in front of the real Spanish football federation and the General Government Intervention Expand reports on a funding referral claim provided last May and a number of alleged irregularities in the operation of several football fields across Spain.
In an order accessed by Europa Press, the magistrate of the National Supreme Court stated that he had extended the investigation period by another three months, until 29 October 2022, without prejudice to extensions of equal or shorter durations as appropriate to remember if necessary.
The No. 1 Central Court of Justice is tasked with investigating facts that may constitute crimes such as unfair administration, abuse and or fraud, embezzlement of public funds, forged documents, corruption between individuals and against the Public Treasury.
This marks a continuation of a pattern where the period has repeatedly been extended in this inquiry. In July of the previous year, a six month extension was approved. A further three month extension followed until April, and another extension occurred in January 2022.
As stated in the decision, the Prosecutor’s Office, the State Attorney’s Office, the National Professional Football League and the real Spanish football federation requested more time for the investigation.
Judge Abascal explained that completing the probe before 29 July would be impossible given the circumstances. He said it was evident that some cases would require more time than this judicial body could manage, making a three month extension both reasonable and realistic.
He noted that the investigation conducted so far has relied on numerous statements from the accused and witnesses, and that several expert reports were still pending due to their complexity. New documents had also been collected and were sent to the legal aid unit of the Tax Office for review.
IGAE report
Following that, the judge referred to the expert analysis provided by the General Government Intervention and agreed to broaden the scope of the review. One document highlights a partial subsidy from the Supreme Sports Council to renovations on municipal football fields in Torrelavega, Cantabria.
Specifically, the council made two allocations to the real Spanish football federation in 2014 and was responsible for disbursing the payment. The federation, under Villar, granted a subsidy of two hundred ten thousand euros to the Cantabrian Football Federation for the named fields. It is noted that while the municipality offered aid to the City Council, the transfer process by IGAE took two years to complete.
The report points out that the Cantabrian Federation did not deploy the subsidy for the purposes originally designated. Instead, it is documented that within seven months of receiving the grant, most of the funds — around two hundred eight thousand euros — were used for activities other than those intended by the grant, according to the expert’s assessment.
Although the Cantabrian Federation claims it is returning the subsidy, experts contest this statement, indicating that the return is part of a loan not connected to the subsidy itself.
The report also mentions purported lawsuits and irregularities in the financing of football fields in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Cáceres, and Melilla.
Furthermore, the IGAE letter warns that the federation appeared to use sports betting revenue in a discretionary manner, lacking objective criteria for selecting projects between 2009 and 2013 and again in 2015 for subsidies. It notes a history of broad discretion in fund distribution, while recognizing that the available information does not suffice to show a clear intention to favor one federation over another.