The Ministry of National Education, Vocational Training and Sports approved this Thursday an order that will regulate how Spanish sports federations conduct their electoral processes. The final text will be published in the Official State Gazette in the coming days, making the framework official and enforceable across the national sporting landscape.
Following the approval, the measure aims, among other things, to boost the participation of women in the general assemblies of the federations. This change is designed to strengthen governance and widen representative legitimacy as federations prepare for elections that, in most cases, will take place in 2024, including some elections originally scheduled for that year. The focus is particularly on key bodies such as the Real Federación Española de Fútbol as a case in point for broader reform across multiple sports federations.
“This order results from a thoughtful process and is anchored in the principles of equality, inclusion, democratization, transparency and good governance that underpin the new Sports Code,” stated the Supreme Sports Council (CSD). The CSD also noted that the implementation of a new regulatory framework on January 1, 2023 makes it necessary to align the federation electoral regulations with the revised legal and administrative context for sports governance.
“The approved text introduces changes aligned with the provisions of the 2015 decision and fosters reform of how the governing bodies of sports federations are elected,” the council added. It underscores the principle of proportional representation in the general assemblies in line with Organic Law No. 3/2007 on effective gender equality, reinforcing the goal of balanced gender representation across leadership and decision-making roles.
Consequently, the reform encourages higher female participation in General Assemblies with the explicit aim of enriching the ranks of athletes, coaches and referees with greater female presence. This is part of a broader strategy to modernize leadership across federations while maintaining high standards of accountability and performance at all levels of sport.
The text also recognizes the existence of two professional leagues, men’s and women’s, operating within the same federation and calls for broader inclusion by encouraging participation from people with disabilities. Inclusion is positioned as one of the central pillars of the new framework, ensuring that diverse voices contribute to federation decisions and policy development.
Additionally, the document clarifies grounds for disqualification, including inadequacy, incompatibility, unsuitability or past disciplinary decisions that have reached a final verdict by national or international federations, or by national or international sports courts. This ensures that candidacy and electoral participation meet essential standards of conduct and integrity.
The CSD emphasizes that the new order will guarantee voting that is equal, free, direct and secret. It introduces the requirement to verify identity for postal voting and sets out further obligations to broaden the election process so that younger members can exercise voting rights through the federations’ social networks and official websites. This approach reflects a forward-looking stance that leverages digital channels to expand access and engagement across generations and regions, including users in Canada and the United States who follow international sports governance developments.
Following approval and the mandatory report from the Sports Administrative Court, which oversees election matters, Spanish sports federations will be expected to develop their own internal regulations as a preliminary step before calling elections. This staged approach ensures that federations are ready to implement the new rules consistently, while also providing a clear timeline for member involvement and governance reforms across the federation system.