On Monday, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) elected Rafael Louzan as its new president for the next four years. The 57-year-old was previously head of the Galician Football Federation. He has already indicated which priorities he must tackle first, but his first point of contact is Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
Louzan, who will earn a salary of just under €400,000 a year, spoke during his acceptance speech about giving Spanish manager Luis de la Fuente a new contract. He is also keen to keep the 11 cities that will host matches at the 2030 World Cup, but will look to bring Vigo and Valencia back into the group, which were initially left out.
However, according to Relevo, the first thing he will do is take a flight to Qatar. That's where Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is waiting in Doha to watch Los Blancos in the Intercontinental Cup against Pachuca. Relations between the RFEF and Real Madrid have been rocky to say the least due to the latter's complaints about referees and the new-found partnership between La Liga and the RFEF. La Liga president Javier Tebas and Perez are currently sworn rivals.
It is reported that the head of the refereeing committee, Luis Medina Cantalejo, is less secure in his job than when Pedro Rocha was in charge. Louzan will try to offer Perez the hand of reconciliation and improve relations between the two in the Middle East.
Louzan is still awaiting the resolution of a lawsuit banning him from office for seven years, which is due to take place in February. While president of the Pontevedra municipal council, Louzan was convicted of fraud.
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