Radio and TV personality Carlos Herrera has declared that he will run for President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), becoming the first to do so since the departure of the disgraced Luis Rubiales.
Currently the position is being occupied on an interim basis by Pedro Rocha, who reportedly also intends to run, but is struggling to gather the support he needs.
Herrera is running on a platform of change, asking the delegates to push out the aristocracy.
“I have the aspiration to return football to society, to disassociate football from a caste that has made football almost a private business, practically something in which a few people work and keep themselves at the top. You have to open that door. I think we can do it and achieve the successes of Spanish football that include a world championship, but also that all children have a football pitch. When I talk about children, I use normal language, which means boys and girls,” he told Sport.
Herrera started his career in radio in 1977 in Andalusia, and made it onto TV by 1985. He has also written a number of books, but has maintained a headline spot on Cadena SER and then Onda Cero for much of the last three decades.
He used to be a Barcelona fan, but has since declared he only supports Real Betis due to the Blaugrana supporting Catalan independence – the club have never formally declared a stance on this. He will need to secure the signatures of 21 of the 140 RFEF delegates supporting his campaign in order to run.
