Spanish Football Federation approve ‘anti-Pique’ law as President takes huge wage cut | OneFootball

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) held their general assembly on Monday, in what was an unusually smooth even compared to recent additions, with little in the way of dissent or disagreement. There was also an interesting new rule passed.

The assembly, headed by new president Rafael Louzan and his new board, including La Liga President Javier Tebas, approved a €372m budget for the year without a vote against it, as reported by Cadena Cope. As part of that, Louzan has been given a salary of €379k per annum, which is half of what predecessor Luis Rubiales was earning, plus 2.8% in inflation.

Louzan, who until last week was still uncertain of his position due to an ongoing court appeal, thanked those around him for keeping their confidence, saying “there have been many people who have fully trusted me and in the end time has proven us right.”

Image via Europa Press

In addition, the RFEF also approved what is being referred to as an ‘anti-Pique law’. The new regulation prohibits any type of commercial relationship between the RFEF and active sports professionals for international competitions, report Marca.

This comes several years after previous president Rubiales agreed a deal to take the Spanish Supercup to Saudi Arabia. The deal was brokered by sports entertainment brand Kosmos though, which is owned by Gerard Pique, who was then playing for Barcelona and only recently retired from Spanish international duty.

The friendly relationship between Pique and ‘Rubi’ became evident after a series of messages between the two were leaked, leading to an investigation into the deal. Currently an investigation is trying to establish whether their relationship led to kickbacks, with Rubiales under investigation for several other deals while he was in charge at the RFEF. He is also currently on trial, accused of sexual assault and coercion after his non-consensual kiss of Jenni Hermoso.