The Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the National Court has rejected the request for Pedro Rocha that the two-year disqualification imposed on him by the Sports Administrative Court be provisionally suspended (TAD), which prevents him from running for president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), according to the court order.
Rocha was disqualified by the TAD last July for having exceeded his duties as president of the RFEF Management Commission by deciding to dismiss the previous general secretary. Andreu Camps.
The Extremaduran manager has the option of presenting an appeal before the Supreme Courtbut the resolution would go beyond the electoral calendar set by the RFEF.
The candidates to lead the federation have from tomorrow, Friday, the 29th, until on December 3 to send your guarantees – a minimum of 21 of the assembly members – in order to participate in the December 16 elections. On December 4th there will be the provisional proclamation of the candidates, against which an appeal may be submitted until the 6th.
The National Court recalls that Rocha has been sanctioned for three very serious infractions that have in common “the exercise of powers that did not correspond to him, in accordance with the regulatory regulations of the Federation, ignoring internal operating rules and depriving the governing body of knowing decisions of its exclusive competence”.
According to the Court, Rocha was charged with acting arbitrarily, substituting the will of the federative entity for his own and removing the governing body from the exercise of powers that corresponded exclusively to him“, so the disqualification is considered justified.
“Therefore, it is possible to think that if the precautionary measure is agreed upon and the interested party continues in the position of president of the RFEFthere is a real risk that these behaviors could be repeated with the consequent serious injury to the legal rights that the disciplinary regulations try to protect,” the order adds.
The text emphasizes that the general interest must prevail over the individual, “which justifies the need to consider the intended precautionary measure inadmissible.” The general interest, in the opinion of the Court, “is embodied by the correct functioning of sports institutions”, so it is inappropriate for someone who has been disqualified by “to hold the position of president”exceed oneself in the exercise of one’s position for conduct contrary to sporting values and that are the subject of disciplinary reproach”.
For all this, “it is not coherent” that he continues to preside over the RFEF and can attend the elections having been sanctioned for “conduct that involves a serious attack on these valuesto the extent that they collide with impartiality and respect for the rules,” the order concludes.
Rocha appealed his disqualification before the Central Contentious Court number 2, which rejected his claim on September 2, because the elections had not been called at that time, and he appealed again to the same court once the call was made, although he again saw it rejected. your request.
The court considered that if it suspended it on a precautionary basis and then in a final final sentence the legality of the measure was maintained“a serious problem would be generated with respect to all those decisions that the actor had made during his mandate, also affecting third parties.”
He also concluded that the annulment of the punishment when he could no longer present his candidacy “could cause him moral, professional and economic damages that could well be compensated economically.”
Rocha, former head of the RFEF, was economic vice president from 2020 until he temporarily replaced Luis Rubiales as president of the managing commission in August 2023, when he was suspended by the FIFA after his behavior in the final of the Women’s World Cup and the non-consensual kiss Jenni Hermoso, for which he will be tried in February, in addition to coercion.
On April 26, Rocha (Cáceres, 1954) was proclaimed president as the only candidate, after having received the support of the majority of the assembly members, with 107 endorsements presented out of the 138 possible.
The other candidates who applied, the journalist Carlos Herrera, the lawyer Eva Parera and the former president of Córdoba, Javier González Calvothey did not present any endorsement. The latter has judicially appealed the calling of the elections.
On the day of its proclamation, the head of the investigating court number 4 of Majadahonda (Madrid), which investigates possible irregularities in the RFEF contract for the dispute of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabiachanged his status from witness to investigated.
LaLiga has joined Rocha’s appeal to stop being investigated in this procedure.
In the RFEF electoral process, the only candidate who has publicly presented his program so far and who has claimed to have the endorsements is the businessman and economist Juanma Moraleswhich has encouraged the new assembly members to be “brave”, “not be afraid of the past” and act “freely and conscientiously” in the face of the pressures they may receive.
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