July 27 – Controversial Spanish FA president Angel Maria Villar Llona says he plans to seek re-election at home later this year if he fails in his bid to become UEFA president.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 19 – Will he or won’t he? With 24 hours to go until the deadline for nominations for UEFA presidential candidates, there has still been no official confirmation that the man who has been running the show on an interim basis will be putting his name forward to replace Michel Platini in September.
By Paul Nicholson
July 19 – Spanish federation president (RFEF) Angel Maria Villar-Llona has come under renewed attack at home from presidential rival Jorge Pérez who says that he has woven a system of patronage and fear into Spanish football that has kept him in position.
July 15 – Spain’s La Liga has added watchmaker Tag Heuer as the league’s official timekeeping partner. La Liga is the latest premium league property to be added to the firm’s sponsorship roster, having added England’s Premier League in April.
July 11 – Within days of the shock custodial sentence handed down to Lionel Messi and his father even though they won’t in all probability actually go to jail, a Spanish court has dismissed a fraud and corruption case against his Barcelona superstar teammate Neymar – and his father too.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 7 – Lionel Messi has vowed to appeal and clear his name after being sensationally sentenced to 21 months in prison on three counts of tax fraud. Both Barcelona’s Argentine superstar and his father were handed the same jail term though it is unlikely they will serve time since custodial sentences are regularly suspended in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying a term of less than two years.
By Paul Nicholson
July 1 – Spain’s LaLiga has officially rebranded itself for the 2016/17 season with the ending of the BBVA title sponsorship deal. LaLiga and LaLiga2 are now the official names for the top two tiers of the league.
June 28 – England were not the only team to incur the wrath of their national press after exiting Euro 2016. Spanish media blasted their own side and called on coach Vicente del Bosque to resign after the defending champions were knocked out by Italy.
June 26 – Two of Europe’s traditional giants meet in what is undoubtedly the tie of the last 16 knock-out round. The winners of the Spain vs Italy clash of the giants will set up another titanic match-up against world champions Germany. In the final tie of the round perennial tournament under-performers England face Iceland, probably the biggest over-performers of the competition from the smallest nation in it.
June 21 – Northern Irish fans have set the tournament alight with their humour but the Germans, in search of their own goal-scoring form, have a serious mission to complete.
June 17 – Sweden vs Italy – Italy striker Graziano Pelle looks to have shaken off a foot problem so the Azzurri, who surprised many with their highly impressive win over Belgium could be unchanged.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 13 – Spain-Czech Republic: Spain are not quite the unstoppable force they were four years ago. Witness them being eliminated from the last World Cup at the first hurdle. But the defending champions still have a fearsome look about them as they try to clinch a third consecutive European title, having already made history by retaining it.
June 3 – Barcelona and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi, on trial for alleged tax fraud in Spain, has told a court he had no involvement in the management of his financial affairs.
By Paul Nicholson
June 2 – Angel Maria Villar Llona, the controversial president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and current interim president at UEFA, has been summoned to appear in court in Spain in July charged with deliberately delaying presidential elections at the RFEF.
June 1 – The long-awaited trial of Argentina and Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi on tax fraud charges has begun in Spain – but he will not appear in court until later this week.