Rubiales, Piqué, Ramos and VAR

I don’t know how this storm of revelations extracted from Head of the Spanish FA Luis Rubiales’ phone will end, where gossip and far-reaching speculation become intertwined. One thing for sure is that individuals will be cautious when talking to him on the phone, or even face to face going forward. Recording a phone conversation without the approval of the other party is an unpleasant business. On a personal level, I recall our last communication and (now happily) remember that I postponed the conversation, because I was travelling and this coincided with the whole recorded phone call business.

Rubi, Rubi, Rubi

Eventually when we spoke, he couldn’t help my particular query at the time and since then, the fallout from the recorded conversations has accentuated. As information continues to emerge from the recorded calls, some dealing in serious matters, others pure gossip, I am struck by the coincidence of two of his interlocutors, Piqué and Sergio Ramos, pretending to take advantage of their familiar treatment with him. Both players refer to him as Rubi and not as president as both offer vehement complaints against VAR where they both claim the VAR system has systematically negatively impacted on both Real Madrid and Barça, which is a sensational revelation for the clueless who believed that the one who has harmed the most is Cádiz.

VAR debate

Rubiales looks good in both cases and attempts to appease each player respectively. What attracts attention is the daring from both former internationals...the familiarity of the tone in speaking with the President of the Spanish FA. Would Sergio Ramos address Florentino Perez as ‘Flori’ or Piqué address Laporta as ‘Porti’? Would the captain of Cádiz dare to do the same? I guess they are the privileges of highly successful internationals as well as captains of the big sides in the Spanish game. Piqué's situation with Rubiales is a serious matter as he proposes putting forward a recording of the Sergio Ramos call and it’s interesting to see the inner thinking of the ‘Big Two’ of LaLiga feel who feel that VAR works against them and that prompts the question ...so who does VAR work for in that case?