Rubiales prevails as Tebas fails to show up
Luis Rubiales was in fine form yesterday at the Spanish FA assembly meeting with LaLiga's Javier Tebas opting not to make an appearance, already sensing 'defeat'. The outcome of the meeting marked a spectacular boost for Rubiales with his proposals to overhaul the structure of both the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup being unanimously approved with the new "Final Four" format now set to be staged in early January with the top teams not joining the Copa del Rey until the third round. There was also a motion to renovate the structure in the women's game with all his initiatives being resoundingly approved by the attendees.
Unanimous approval
With yesterday's assembly Rubiales has been able to extend his remit and reclaim some of the areas that had been overlooked during the regime of previous president Ángel Maria Villar, who was happy to surrender areas of responsibility so that Tebas would be less inclined to bother him. I imagine Rubiales intentions are positive as most of what Tebas has done for the domestic game has been good or even excellent with just one or two exceptions. I do feel that an overhaul of the Liga Femenina is perilous as the project seems to be working just fine at present and I feel that it's at far too soon a stage to start to tinker with format and structure given it's limited history and the competition it faces from the men's game. There are many people at these clubs making an effort to keep things afloat and frankly don't deserve any more headaches.
Mutual appreciation society
There's no doubt that we can expect Tebas to strike back. The wise move would be to avoid legal threats or have to get the Secretary of State for Sport involved in the wrangle as she is acutely aware that are high levels of male testosterone at work here which at time cloud rational lines of thinking from both sides. Rubiales, I feel should respectively acknowledge the work Tebas has done in boosting the Spanish league system, and at the same time and with the same level of respect, Tebas should rightfully return those areas of responsibility that are the FA's jurisdiction and that were abandoned during the Villar era and now areas that Rubiales seems determined to recover at all costs. This is not the way .....