Spain's quiet man Villar Llona under FIFA spotlight

The understated head of the Spanish football federation for the past 27 years, Angel Maria Villar Llona, has been thrust into the international spotlight as the latest high-profile executive to face investigation from FIFA's ethics committee.

FIFA confirmed on Wednesday that cases involving Villar Llona and German legend Franz Beckenbauer have been passed to the adjudicatory chamber of the ethics committee, which recently imposed suspensions on FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini.

Villar Llona chaired an emergency meeting as the highest ranking UEFA vice-president in Platini's absence last week.

He has also been a FIFA executive member since 1998 and was as recently as Tuesday put in charge of the World Cup organising committee for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

However, it is his role as one of the 22-man executive committee that voted for the controversial selection of Russia and Qatar as World Cup host in 2022 that has seen him join the ever-growing list of high-ranking officials engulfed in the FIFA corruption scandal.
Villar Llona headed up a joint bid by Spain and Portugal for the 2018 World Cup.

Yet, in the summary of the investigation carried out by former US attorney Michael Garcia into the awarding of both tournaments by German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, chairman of the adjudicatory chamber, the Spain-Portugal bid was said to be "particularly uncooperative in responding to the investigatory chamber's requests."

Moreover, Blatter appeared to confirm suspicions that there had been an agreement to swap votes between the Spain-Portugal and Qatar bids.

"I'll be honest, there was a bundle of votes between Spain and Qatar," Blatter told the BBC in 2011.

"But it was a nonsense. It was there but it didn't work, not for one and not for the other side."

In stark contrast to the bombastic Blatter or Platini's fame as one of the best players of his generation, little is known about Villar Llona.

The 65-year-old rarely faces even the Spanish media, at times even blatantly refusing to respond to the most basic of questions by reporters at airport stopoffs between his jet-set life style at the top tables of both UEFA and FIFA.
He has also had an ongoing battle with the head of the Spanish league Javier Tebas since the latter launched corruption allegations against Villar Llona related to the expenses of employees and family members of the federation that were subsequently dismissed.

"The majority are in jail or suspended, Villar would have to be very crafty or very stupid to have no idea of what was going on," Tebas said last week.

Villar did have an international playing career, representing Spain 22 times and making over 350 appearances in a 10-year spell with Athletic Bilbao. However, his playing career is most remembered for a punch on three-time World Player of the Year Johan Cruyff in 1975.

Off the field he has gained greater notoriety.

Winning six straight presidential elections to remain as the figurehead of Spanish football and overseeing the most successful period in the Spanish national team's history in winning the 2010 World Cup and 2008 and 2012 European Championships.

Source: AFP