The head of Spain's soccer federation and FIFA vice-president Angel Maria Villar will be held in custody without bail pending an investigation into corruption allegations, a Spanish High Court judge ruled on Thursday.
The head of Spain's soccer federation and FIFA vice-president Angel Maria Villar will be held in custody without bail pending an investigation into corruption allegations, a Spanish High Court judge ruled on Thursday.
Villar, along with his son Gorka and two other soccer executives, was arrested on Tuesday after a police raid on several offices. The four were detained on allegations of collusion, embezzlement and falsifying documents.
Investigating magistrate Santiago Pedraz said in a written ruling on Thursday that he considered Villar to be a flight risk. Pedraz ordered that Villar, his son, who is a sports lawyer, and Juan Padron, who looks after financial affairs at the RFEF, be held in custody during the probe.
The judge set bail for Ramon Angel Hernandez, a member of the soccer federation in the Spanish island of Tenerife and who was also among those arrested on Tuesday, at 100,000 euros ($116,290).
The RFEF Spanish federation and the Tenerife soccer federation could not immediately be reached for comment on behalf of those arrested and they have made no public comment on the case since Tuesday.
Villar, a one-time midfielder for Athletic Bilbao, has headed up the RFEF for nearly 30 years and is also a vice-president of UEFA.
He was fined 25,000 Swiss francs ($26,000) last year by FIFA's Ethics Committee for failing to co-operate with an investigation into the contest to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which triggered the worst crisis in the soccer world governing body's history. ($1 = 0.8599 euros)
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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