The double war of futsal for being professional: Tebas-Rubiales and Sánchez-Feijóo

Futsal enters the soccer war due to the intention that its main competition, the Primera RFEF Futsal, be considered professional, as has happened with the Women's League or the ASOBAL Handball League.. The reason is that, since the Sports Law establishes that there cannot be more than one professional league by sport modality and gender, not by specialty, the competition that is now under the protection of the Federation presided over by Luis Rubiales, would pass to be managed by LaLiga by Javier Tebas. The Federation argues that it lacks the necessary economic structure, something that the leadership of futsal denies. Politics has already taken part, through a non-law proposal (PNL) presented by the PP in Congress that was rejected by the PSOE and Unidas Podemos, after unsuccessful attempts before the Higher Sports Council (CSD).. The call for elections has generated a waiting period in this double war, between football and politics, until the new scenario resulting from 26-J is known.

Javier Lozano, president of the National Futsal League (LNFS) and former successful coach, initially addressed the Secretary of State José Manuel Franco, who received him with good words. As happened in the case of women's football, the procedure for such a request is to request a report from the corresponding federation, which is not binding.. The letter sent by the Rubiales body was contrary to the professionalization process, something that had already happened with women's soccer, with similar arguments: “It is not financially sustainable”. In the Federation they say they have evidence that there are clubs that cannot even guarantee the minimum interprofessional salary. The same was the case with women's football, but in that case the political push prevailed.

Lozano insists on the contrary: “The level of labor relations of the players, about 200, is practically total in the 16 clubs that make up the first category, with fixed minimum wages and chips that go up to 600,000 euros in some cases”. A scenario that did not occur in the same proportion in the case of women's football or the ASOBAL League, already professionalized.

DISCREPANCIES IN THE FIGURES

“Our reality is very clear and the consideration of a professional league would allow us to grow a lot with the exploitation of resources, innovation and 'merchandising'”, continues Lozano, who regrets that the process is marred by the pulses of power between the soccer barons. The president of the LNFS had the first conversations to professionalize his sport, then favored by the tenants of the CSD, in 2015. But it was not until 2018 when he took the formal steps, after seeing that other competitions were moving: «That year we put 40,000 people in the WiZink Center for the Spanish Cup and we received four million euros on television. We were prepared». In the Federation, on the other hand, they believe that this figure responds to a specific fact and not to the market, reflected in the latest tender, for which they have received an offer from TVE of 180,000 euros for an open match per day and 150,000 for the rest.

Rubiales had arrived at the Federation precisely in 2018, the year in which the will of the CSD was different. Lozano then sought help in politics, which was what had made the professionalization of women's soccer go ahead.. This time, however, he needed the opposition. NLP was brought to the table of Congress by the PP. They voted in favor of the popular formation, Ciudadanos and Vox, and against PSOE and Unidas Podemos, while partners of the Government of Pedro Sánchez such as Esquerra and Compromís abstained.. It did not go ahead by two votes difference (18-16).

Futsal does not want to become politicized, but what happened in Congress means that its hopes are placed on a political change. Franco is leaving the CSD and everything indicates that he will be replaced by Víctor Francos, a trusted man of Salvador Illa in the PSC and Minister Miquel Iceta, someone very active in the processing of the controversial Sports Law against the Thebes theses. A dike. If there is a game, it will be after 26-J.