The big footballing news in Spain today is of course the announcement that La Liga is aiming for a June 13 retart. With Germany’s Bundesliga coming back this Saturday, we have another date on the calendar now to look forward to.
Another story of Spanish football relevance relates to Manchester United. A pair of their players, midfielder Juan Mata and goalkeeper David de Gea, both stealthily resigned from the Spanish footballers’ union (AFE). This according to Marca, which reports that the Man resignations are “not related to the recent allegations against the president.”
? La dimisión silenciada de Mata y De Gea https://t.co/K0elCEyf28
— MARCA (@marca) May 13, 2020
“Allegations against the president” refers to AFE president David Aganzo.
He stands accused of bribery, and the AFE’s opposing directors are looking for him to resign, or call for a vote of no confidence in his leadership. According to Ghana Soccer.net, the next board meeting is due to take place either at the end of this week or the start of next week.
Meanwhile Mata and De Gea, appointed vice-presidents of the AFE in 2017, both “silently resigned” from their posts a month ago, Marca claims.
It’s just speculation to say that they stepped down because they saw storm clouds on the horizon, but it certainly sounds plausible right now.
Mata is universally regarded to be one of the finest and most upstanding citizens off the pitch in all of football. The idea of someone with a reputation like his acting malfeasant seems rather far-fetched. As for De Gea, he has a clean record and wholesome image as well.
So it is certainly safe to assume that they both saw treachery afoot, and wanted to get away from it as fast as possible.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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