The Government, society and the sport itself aspire to a Spanish Football Federation in peace, without an example, without the burden of corruption that has been uncovered with the departure of the last three presidents. Three leaders seek the chair from a favorable position, the presidency of the territorial federations that pave the way and make it impossible for fresh air from outside to enter. They are Rafael Louzán, Sergio Merchán and Salvador Gomar. Galician Federation Rafael Louzán, one hundred percent Galician Rafael Louzán Abal (Ribadumia, 57 years old) is haunted by the past. There are two ways against their purposes. A conviction for prevarication that disqualifies him from holding public office when he was president of the Pontevedra Provincial Council and the adventures of the former presidents of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), three leaders disqualified for different reasons related to corruption. For this preventive reason, the secretary of state for sport, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, does not want him as the future president of the RFEF. It is a powerful burden for a person unknown at the national level, but with a career in Galicia, who began his public career in his town, where he was born and lives, Ribadumia, a town bordering the most famous towns of the Arousa estuary. He was elected deputy mayor in the city council, where he worked as a notifying agent and owned a company to build greenhouses. From there he climbed to the top positions in the PP. Elected party organization secretary in 1998 for Pontevedra, he became president of the Provincial Council in 2000. In just five years of political life. His friends think highly of him. They speak for ABC, although they prefer anonymity now that their countryman has begun to acquire celebrity as his future. What stands out about him is his “hospitality and management intelligence.” “His core of friends are the same as always, those from his town, the people who knew him since he was a teenager.” The Galician media reflect Louzán’s life as a politician glued to the street, more than to offices and carpets. “I enjoy being in contact with citizens,” said Louzán in an interview with ‘La Voz de Galicia’. Married to María Teresa Cores, the couple has two children, Sara and Manuel. The family’s life is marked by tragedy. The couple’s first son, Rafael, was hit by a car outside their house when he was nine years old. A misfortune that, according to those close to him, brought the family unit closer together and caused greater attachment to the land on the part of Rafael Louzán. The politician and sports leader is a person closely linked to Galicia, to the Rías Baixas where he comes from, to his town of 5,000 inhabitants and to his taste for lifelong friends, to whom he himself believes he has not been able to dedicate so much time. in recent years when he has been president of the Pontevedra Provincial Council, number one of the PP in the province and also president of the Galician Football Federation. A football lover above all sports, he has also practiced cycling. In 2017, a fall while cycling on an unpaved track near his house made him more complicated than expected and, with a blow to his face, he spent a night in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to rule out neurological damage. Very close to his land and his origins, Louzán is not seen by the people who know him living outside of Ribadumia, where he has spent the 57 years of his life. It always returns to its origin, no matter how much Madrid is the headquarters of the Spanish Football Federation that it now intends to conquer. Extremaduran Federation Sergio Merchán, heir with little experience Sergio Merchán Guay, born in Almendralejo in 1983, is running in the presidential elections of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) as Pedro Rocha’s former right-hand man and recurring plan B of Rafael Louzán and the majority of the territorial barons. In the event that the candidacy of the president of the Galician federation is derailed from the race for the presidency by the Higher Sports Council (CSD) due to his disqualification from holding public office, his endorsements would go to the current president of Extremadura, without pending cases or sentences against, and whose victory would not displease the president of LaLiga Javier Tebas. Pedro Rocha’s replacement in Extremadura after his trip to Las Rozas Soccer City to fill the void left by Luis Rubiales has his past in futsal in common with him. Merchán was initially linked to football since his youth, playing for teams such as Extremadura, Atlético San José, San Roque Promesas or UD Fuente de Cantos. However, he would end up changing the grass playing fields for the pavilions and the 40×20 meter parquet court. In AD Almendralejo he was a player first and then a coach, before becoming a regional coach in different categories. In 2013, already hanging shoes and a blackboard and despite not having academic training, he entered the Extremadura federation through the licensing department, where he worked as another administrative officer. From there he went, three years later and under the guidance of Pedro Rocha, to the chair of General Secretary, overtaking Ángeles Aguilera to the right, who was then the favorite for the position and is currently vice president of said federation. He would hold the position until June 2024, when he became president after being the only candidate to succeed Rocha. Although within its territorial federation it is part of the Badajoz group, compared to that of Cáceres that includes other figures such as the aforementioned Ángeles Aguilera or Rocha himself, it ended up becoming the dolphin of Cáceres. A man of his utmost confidence, his first decisions as territorial president nevertheless departed from Rocha’s line of thought, which may suggest that he is not as docile a character as he might seem at first glance. If elected as the new president of the RFEF, Merchán would move, just a few months after being elected as president of football in Extremadura, to a job of as much responsibility as directing Spanish football. As a curious fact, it should be added that he would become the third Extremaduran to hold the position consecutively after the fleeting periods of Pedro Rocha and María Ángeles García Chaves ‘Yaye’.Valencian Federation Salvador Gomar, a left-hander like Rubiales Always, to Salvador Gomar Fayos (Valencia, 10-29-1965) has been compared to Luis Rubiales, controversial and excessive former president of the Spanish Football Federation. Since Rubiales fell from grace, Gomar’s enemies use that similarity to attack him. Before, when Rubiales was “the best president in history,” the comparisons had complimentary or flattering connotations, depending on their origin. Valencian Football Federation (FFCV), like Luis Rubiales, was a footballer. Gomar did not become a professional, but he played in the youth categories of Valencia CF and in various clubs in the province such as UD Benimodo, the Alginet CF and Torrent CF. He shared a dressing room with former Che player Fernando Gómez and one of his youth coaches was Pedro Cortés, former president of Valencia. After hanging up his boots, Gomar tried his hand at coaching. He coached several teams, including El Pilar women’s indoor soccer team. That is, he knows first-hand all the sporting angles of the two federative modalities: soccer and futsal, both men’s and women’s. He also knows about management. He is a lawyer—like Rubiales—and has been a professional manager of sports entities with an extensive resume in different clubs, associations and establishments. And, long before dedicating himself to that, since he was born, he is the son of Salvador Gomar Asturiano, legendary manager of Valencia CF for thirteen years (1973-1986). Salvador Gomar, ‘Salva’ to those closest to him, was also directly involved in the management of Valencia, as he was president of Mestalla, the first team’s subsidiary, for nine seasons. Salva has already been linked to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for many years. Eleven specifically. He was coordinator of the Football Player Agent License and director of the Football Player Agent Course taught by the RFEF. One of the big scandals involving him as president of the FFCV was his considerable salary increase. While his predecessor in office, Vicente Muñoz, earned 70,000 euros annually, at the end of 2022 Gomar and his board of directors approved raising that amount to 170,000 euros. And he justified that decision by arguing that he had obtained a generous subsidy from the Spanish Federation chaired by… Luis Rubiales. A fan of running, his willpower leads him to practice popular athletics despite having two hip prostheses. He even dares to take on the tough marathon and half-marathon tests. Married with two daughters, every time he can disconnect he does so in the nearby coastal town of Cullera (Valencia), where he spent his holidays with his parents and has a group of lifelong friends. If Luis Rubiales had the approval, even the protection, of the current Government of Spain during his term, there are several voices that now place Gomar as the preferred one – or the least bad one – by the socialist Executive among the three candidates for send in the RFEF. By the way, Rubiales played left back and Gomar played left winger. Both, evidently, are left-handed. The assembly of the Royal Spanish Football Federation will elect its next president in the elections scheduled for next Monday, December 16.
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