The head of Spain’s soccer federation (RFEF), Angel Maria Villar, a FIFA vice president, and his son Gorka were escorted to Spanish National Audience by police on Thursday following his arrest in Madrid on Thursday, July 18, as part of an anti-corruption investigation.
Villar, his son and several other Spanish soccer federation members were detained on allegations of collusion, fraud and embezzlement, the police said in a statement, and the accused and will testify to judge Santiago Pedraz on Thursday at the National Audience.
A one-time midfielder for Athletic Bilbao, Villar has been at the head of the federation for nearly 30 years.
He was fined 25,000 Swiss francs ($26,000) last year by FIFA’s Ethics Committee for failing to co-operate with an investigation into the contest to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups that triggered the worst crisis in the soccer world governing body’s history.
The investigation into Villar is already several months old and stems from claims raised by the Spanish state’s sports body in early 2016, police said.
