Miguel Galan, the scourge of Rubiales

A complaint by Miguel Galan in 2017 addressed to the Higher Sports Council (CSD) against Angel Maria Villar for violating neutrality in the electoral process ended the 30 years of the Bilbao leader at the head of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). This Wednesday, Galan’s letter addressed to the Administrative Court of Sports (TAD) for one of its seven members, Jaime Caravaca, to abstain from participating in the process opened to Luis Rubiales is his last action undertaken to end the federative mandate of the Granada leader.

Meanwhile, the TAD is still deciding whether the kiss with Jenni Hermoso is reason to open a file for “very serious” misconduct against Rubiales, which would make it possible for the Higher Sports Council, like FIFA, to also issue a provisional suspension. If the so-called “peak” is considered only a “serious” offense, the body chaired by Victor Francos will not be able to dictate the suspension of Rubiales.

Owner of the Cenafe coaching school, Galan now denounces that, as EL PAIS reported, the questioned member of the TAD is the nephew of Ramon Caravaca, associated with the GC office directed by Tomas Gonzalez Cueto, external legal advisor of the federation and armed legal arm of Rubiales.

Through a statement, the football players’ union (AFE) also requested the exclusion of Caravaca from the process. Gonzalez Cueto, along with general secretary Andreu Camps, are two of the figures with the most decision-making power who continue in the federation after the three-month provisional suspension that FIFA has imposed on Rubiales. The dismissals of Camps and Gonzalez Cueto would be a gesture that would help dispel the Government’s suspicions that the interim president, Pedro Rocha, really wants to distance himself from Rubiales, who was the one who designated him as his leader.

Jaime Caravaca’s status as a member of the TAD has raised suspicions in Galan about the court’s partiality in its decision on Rubiales. For this reason, he has undertaken this latest legal battle. “Some call me crazy, but I finished with Villar and I will do the same with Rubiales,” he says. But who is Miguel Galan?

“Well, he is a coach who, at 19 years old, being at level three of the national course organized by the federation, was invited by the CSD to some sectoral tables to see what was happening with the training of soccer coaches because there was no success. They chose me because he was the youngest coach in history to reach that level,” he explains. “Later, the CSD decided to introduce football coaching education into the Spanish educational system. So I set up a center through the Ministry of Education and the federation and its territories did not peacefully assume the breaking of the monopoly. I became an enemy in every territory that opened a Cenafe school. “I have one in each Spanish community, one in the United States and one in China.”

His efforts to have the federation validate his school’s title with the UEFA Pro coaching license has quixotic overtones. His countless complaints against Villar and Rubiales have not yet borne fruit in that sense, but they have led to press headlines in which they nickname him Complainant. “Operation Soule, which was the beginning of the end for Villar, was initiated by a complaint from me to the Prosecutor’s Office and another from Jorge Perez, former secretary general of the federation,” he claims.

“My students have a coaching card, but neither Villar nor Rubiales have granted them the license to train abroad, although in Spain they can do so in all categories. Due to the Hague agreement they can direct in any country, but we want the UEFA license, not only for Cenafe, but for anyone who sets up an academy. Villar offered it to me, but only for my school and I said no. I don’t want a monopoly so that the coaches who have been through Cenafe and for whom I am a hero see me as a sellout. As soon as they validate the UEFA Pro license for all schools like mine, Miguel Galan will disappear from the world of the federation and its presidents,” he assures.

The case opened in the courts of Majadahonda against Rubiales due to a complaint based on the audios published by The confidential which reveal, among other thorny matters, how the Granada leader negotiated with Gerard Pique to bring the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, also have the Granada leader in check. “If the CSD had sent that complaint to the TAD, Rubiales would have been history a long time ago,” he says. Kosmos, the company owned by Pique, received 24 million euros in commission, the legality of which is being investigated.

The aforementioned lawsuit opened in Majadahonda has caused Rubiales to have Galan on the extensive list of those he calls “satellites” in the service of Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga. Galan denies it. “Tebas did not support me when I ran as a candidate in the 2018 elections that Rubiales won. He preferred to bet on Juan Luis Larrea. Of course, the enemies of my enemies are my friends. That does not mean that I am a man from Thebes,” he defends. “Let someone say or prove that I or Cenafe have received a single dollar from LaLiga or Tebas,” he adds.

The high cost of so many legal lawsuits against Villar and Rubiales also generates the suspicion that LaLiga finances him. “I have spent a lot of money, but I bill one million euros every year with Cenafe. I am the sole administrator, the accounts are public and can be verified. I earn about 400,000 euros and I have the economic possibilities to do what I am doing. Some prefer to remain silent, I have chosen to fight.”

That struggle, according to him, has brought him episodes of crime novels. “I have suffered espionage by private detectives, death threats and they have entered my house to try to steal documents. I am not afraid of anything or anyone,” he says defiantly. Galan does not seem willing to abandon his legal war until he achieves the objective he intends for Cenafe. “When someone doesn’t want to talk, you have no choice but to go to court. I am protected by the Constitution, article 24, it is called effective judicial protection.”

He was the scourge of Thebes and wants to also become the scourge of Rubiales.

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