Spanish FA president arrested as part of corruption investigation
The Spanish Football Federation's (RFEF) president, Angel Maria Villar Llona, and his son were held by police following raids on several Madrid offices early on Tuesday morning related to a corruption investigation.
Villar, 67, has been at the helm of his native Spain's football governing body since 1988 and currently serves as a senior vice-president of FIFA and UEFA. He's suspected by investigators to have embezzled funds, according to local reports obtained by BBC News.
Villar was fined 25,000 Swiss francs by FIFA's Ethics Committee in 2016 for not sufficiently cooperating with the probe into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Spanish media understands the allegations focus "on the falsification of documents and skimming profits from international football matches." His son, Gorka, who was also arrested, was director-general of CONMEBOL - the governing body for South American football - until last year, and faced allegations of extortion by Uruguayan clubs in January 2016.
Police revealed to Reuters that at least four people were arrested in the raids, including another member of the RFEF and a senior member of the Tenerife football association. The RFEF hasn't talked to the press on the matter.
The probe, led by one of the High Court's investigating magistrates and anti-corruption prosecutors, has been running for several months.