Two presidents of Catalan football clubs admitted last Friday, May 23, before the judge of the Court of Instruction Number 2 of Sabadell, that their signatures on the ballots for the 2023 election of the president of the Catalan Football Federation (FCF ) were forged. “These statements confirm the accusations of repeated offenses of falsifying public documents and breach of trust by the current FCF leadership,” stated Vosseler Abogados, representing the private prosecution, the Association for Transparency and Democracy in Sport.
Eight members of the FCF board of directors appeared before this same court as defendants. They were Víctor Güell, José Miguel Calle, Álvaro Montoliu, Alberto Prieto, Sergi Garrido, Alejandro Guerrero, Jesús Manchado Villena, and Jesús Manchado Lozando. After being informed of the crimes they are accused of, they have exercised their right not to testify.
President's illness
The president of the FCF, Joan Soteras, was also summoned to testify as a defendant. However, he did not appear, citing medical reasons that prevented his presence.
"This is another step toward opening a trial against these individuals. Neither procedurally nor legally will they escape accountability before the courts," said Vosseler Abogados, who also wished "Mr. Joan Soteras a speedy recovery."
As the firm has already stated, "the entire case revolves around an alleged plot to ensure his victory in the FCF elections." A plot already revealed in a report of more than 400 pages from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police). This report revealed "a plan to falsify signatures to create notarial deeds, allowing employees of the federal body to vote in favor of Joan Soteras."
"This demonstrates," Vosseler Abogados points out, "that there is evidence that signatures were forged. And that these signatures favored Soteras in the FCF presidential election."
The accusations
Joan Soteras, president of the Catalan Football Federation (FCF), is accused of various irregularities related to the 2023 presidential elections. The accusations focus on:
- Document forgery and electoral manipulationThe Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) have filed a report investigating the alleged falsification of signatures of club presidents and secretaries to create notarial deeds that would allow unauthorized persons to vote, in order to favor their candidacy.
- Ordering irregular notarial acts: He is accused, along with Victor Güell, of commissioning notarial deeds from a notary office in Sabadell (Simón-Navarro) to which photocopies and non-original documents extracted from federal databases were added, in violation of the data protection law.
- Irregular campaign financingThe report also suggests that the notarial deeds for Soteras's candidacy could have been paid for by an FCF contractor, through the company of its external advisor (AMT Comunicación), through a triangulation of companies, thus forgiving sponsorship.
- Leadership of a plotThe agents point out that "nothing was done without the consent of (José Miguel) Calle," and that Soteras, along with other executives, allegedly led this electoral manipulation scheme.
