It has been a busy week for Spanish football.

Sunday’s Clasico saw Real Madrid set one hand on the La Liga trophy after a thrilling 3-2 win over Barcelona, with Carlo Ancelotti’s side now preparing for a Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.

La Liga president Javier Tebas has been talking about staging games in the United States, while a noisy debate continues about introducing goal line technology after the ‘phantom goal’ by Lamine Yamal at the Bernabeu. Barca coach Xavi has changed his mind and after being set to leave at the end of the season, will now stay on at the club next campaign.

But by the end of the week, many headlines were about the government intervening in the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to try and clean up the mess still flowing from the exit of former president Luis Rubiales, after his behaviour at last summer’s Women’s World Cup.

Thursday saw the Spanish government’s Superior Sports Council (CSD) announce a new ‘commission of supervision, normalisation and representation’ to work with the RFEF to “initiate a stage of regeneration under a climate of institutional stability”.

But less than 24 hours later Pedro Rocha — handpicked by Rubiales as his successor — was formally named the new president, despite being one of…

Wednesday was another dramatic day in the saga involving former Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales, as an investigation into alleged corruption during his term from 2018 to 2023 gathers pace.

The 46-year-old was detained by police officers and questioned about his role in potential crimes of money laundering and misuse of RFEF funds. Investigators believe Rubiales and a number of his associates were involved in a number of different schemes linking Spain, the Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia and China.

Rubiales resigned as RFEF president in September, having already been provisionally suspended by FIFA for his behaviour after Spain won the 2023 Women’s World Cup, when he held his crotch in celebration just a few seats down from Queen Letizia and the 16-year-old Princess Sofia of Spain, before grabbing star forward Jenni Hermoso by the head and kissing her on the lips during the medal ceremony.

For his kiss on Hermoso, Rubiales is to go on trial on charges of alleged sexual assault and coercion (which he has always denied), with prosecutors seeking a two-and-a-half-year jail term.

Here, The Athletic explains the latest dramatic developments in Spanish football’s growing crisis, and the potential consequences for Rubiales and the RFEF.

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Why was Rubiales…

Former Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales was detained and questioned immediately after landing in Madrid on Wednesday morning, as part of an anti-corruption investigation.

Rubiales, who resigned as RFEF president in September, having been suspended by FIFA over his kiss on Spain forward Jenni Hermoso after the Women’s World Cup final in August, was travelling back from the Dominican Republic.

That is where he was on March 20, when RFEF headquarters in Madrid and Rubiales’ home in Granada were searched as part of an investigation into alleged corruption during his five years in charge from 2018.

Officers from Spain’s Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) were waiting for Rubiales to land at Madrid-Barajas airport. Footage broadcast by Spanish TV station La Sexta showed him being led away from a plane on the tarmac and into a black minivan.

According to Guardia Civil sources, Rubiales was informed he was being indicted and his lawyer was called so they could be present during questioning. Rubiales invoked his right not to testify and was released. However, he is expected to be called to testify when a warrant for his arrest is issued by an investigating judge, the same sources said.

Guardia Civil officers seized a mobile phone and a tablet from Rubiales on…

Irene Paredes grasped the trophy and took two steps forward before stopping. She looked up at the sky, took a moment, and closed her eyes, grimacing as she tried to hold back the tears. But it was too late — she was finally lifting a title as Spain captain.

Paredes was a key part of the Spanish side that won the Women’s World Cup last summer and had been captain for four years before that, but she was stripped of the armband before that tournament for her role in a player protest against then-head coach Jorge Vilda and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). In September 2022, she had been one of the three players to support ‘Las 15’ — the 15 players who wrote the letter to the RFEF standing down from international duty until changes were made — albeit without sending the same letter to the RFEF.

So the Barcelona defender did not lift the most important title in the history of Spanish women’s football as captain. That honour went to Real Madrid’s Ivana Andres instead. It meant victory in Wednesday’s inaugural UEFA Nations League final had special significance for Paredes. Her thoughts immediately turned to her late father, who died just before the World Cup.

You only had to look at the images of the team celebrating to see it had special significance for all of…

Valencia’s La Liga match against Granada this weekend has been postponed following a deadly fire in the city.

Four people are reported to have died and as many as 15 people remain missing after a fire engulfed a pair of apartment blocks in the city on Thursday.

Emergency services worked to tackle the blaze and treat those affected in the Campanar neighbourhood of the city.

The La Liga club released a statement on Friday and confirmed they had asked the league to postpone the game which was scheduled to take place at Granada’s Los Carmenes stadium on Saturday.

La Liga later granted the request with the date and time of the rescheduled fixture to be determined. Levante’s match against Andorra in Segunda Division has also been postponed.

“Valencia CF are devastated by the terrible fire that occurred this Thursday on Avenida Maestro Rodrigo, in the Campanar neighbourhood of Valencia, and wish to convey our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims,” Valencia said.

“We would also like to publicly thank the emergency services for their commendable work.”

The club also confirmed that players and coaches of the men’s, women’s and academy teams will observe a minute’s silence ahead of training on Friday.

La Liga have revealed all teams will follow suit…

It’s raining in Galicia, with drops running down the windows at Celta Vigo’s recently opened Cidade Deportiva Afouteza training ground.

Bounding into the media room comes Rafa Benitez, still wearing his ‘RB’ personalised shorts and jersey, having just taken training with Celta — his 14th job in almost three decades managing at the top level.

Over that time, Benitez has won 13 trophies with six clubs in three countries, with highlights including two La Liga titles and the 2003-04 UEFA Cup with Valencia, the 2004-05 Champions League with Liverpool and the 2012-13 Europa League with Chelsea.

The 63-year-old took on a new challenge last summer, joining Celta on a three-year contract, and the team from Spain’s far north-west are currently 17th in the 20-team La Liga table, with wobbling champions Barcelona coming to town this weekend.

Benitez warmly welcomes The Athletic to his new workplace for an interview that often returned to one major theme — the importance of timing and opportunity in the career of a coach or manager.

This is an edited transcript of the conversation.

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The Athletic: Vigo seems quite like Liverpool — the rain, the river, the port…

Benitez: When I speak with my wife, who is there in Liverpool, I tell her, ‘It’s raining’. And she says, ‘Of…

Over the course of his 17 years as the most powerful figure in world football, Sepp Blatter was memorably characterised by the venerable British sportswriter Brian Glanville as someone who had 50 new ideas every day, “51 of them bad”.

There was the one where the then FIFA president said the key to attracting more interest in women’s football was for the players to wear “tighter shorts” to “create a more female aesthetic”; the one where he proposed games be split into four quarters; the one where he suggested the goal be made 50cm (19in) wider and 25cm taller; the one where he urged any player racially abused on the pitch to settle the matter by shaking hands with his abuser at the final whistle; the one where, with his regime finally crumbling in 2015, he declared he was the man to “clean up” FIFA.

But Blatter had his moments. He was highly influential in the introduction of the back-pass rule in 1992. He led FIFA’s clampdown on both time-wasting and the dreaded “tackle” from behind. Before he became an eccentric power-crazed FIFA president, he was a skilled administrator with a fervent passion for trying to modernise and improve the game.

One Blatter idea that fell by the wayside was something called “6+5”.

It was as controversial as it was intriguing….

Warning: contains graphic detail of an alleged crime

Dani Alves crossed the corridor separating the cells from the courtroom surrounded by police officers and with his hands tied. He was wearing a white turtleneck jumper and the glasses he had worn the day before.

The crowd in the hall of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia suddenly fell silent. It was only the second time that accredited media had been able to see him in person, and he had previously been transferred from the cells up to the courtroom via a lift to which only the police had access.

“Do you feel like talking?” a member of the press asked. Alves nodded.

Wednesday was the final day of Alves’ trial for allegedly raping a 23-year-old woman on the night of December 30, 2022 at the Sutton nightclub in Barcelona. The former Barcelona and Brazil player has repeatedly denied the charges against him.

On Monday, five people testified: the alleged victim, her friend, her cousin, and a waiter and a doorman from the nightclub. On Monday morning, Alves’ defence team requested that he testify last and on the trial’s final day.

Tuesday saw 21 witnesses take the stand. Among the most prominent were Joana Sanz, Alves’ wife, and Bruno Brasil, the friend who was with the footballer on the night in question.

Alves, 40,…

The second day of the Dani Alves trial — considered the ‘trial of the year’ in Spain — started on time, unlike on Monday. The area around the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Catalunya (High Court of Justice of Catalonia) in Barcelona was just as packed, but the process was much quicker.

Proceedings on Tuesday started at 3pm local time and lasted until shortly after 6pm, with a half-hour break in between.

Alves was again present in the courtroom, moved from the court cells to the dock. He sat dressed in a long-sleeved grey polo shirt and was wearing glasses.

He has been in detention since his arrest for alleged sexual assault — a charge he has repeatedly denied — in January last year.

After hearing the testimony of the alleged victim, her friend and cousin, two waiters and the doorman of the Sutton nightclub on Monday, on Tuesday it was the turn of 21 further witnesses. That included Alves’ wife Joana Sanz and Bruno Brasil — Alves’ friend who was with him on the night of December 30 2022, when it is alleged Alves raped a 23-year-old woman in a private toilet in the Sutton nightclub, which Alves denies.

The first to testify was the manager of the nightclub, Robert Massanet.

Massanet said his attention was first drawn when he saw three young women, including the…

Real Betis midfielder William Carvalho appeared in a Seville court on Tuesday over an alleged sexual assault.

Carvalho, 31, denied the allegations and stated in court that both of his sexual encounters with the alleged victim were consensual, before releasing a statement to deny any wrongdoing.

The Portugal international appeared in Seville’s Investigative Court Number 9  after a criminal investigation was opened.

After appearing in court, Carvalho released a statement on his social media page in which he denied the allegations.

“The accusations against me are completely false,” Carvalho posted on his Instagram account.

“I consider any kind of violence against women, particularly sexual violence, to be an appalling offence, completely contrary to who I am and what I believe in.

“I have a great deal of respect for women and I am actively involved in various causes that promote gender equality.

“I’m not going to feed the media spectacle put on by those who want to promote themselves at my expense.

“I have a clear conscience, I have co-operated with the relevant authorities and, fortunately, I have the ability to prove the absolute baselessness of these accusations.”

The magistrate did not impose any restrictions on Carvalho, including his freedom of travel, but the…