FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA chief Michel Platini have defended Spanish FA president Angel Maria Villar from criticism that Villar has not supported measures to deal with ultras violence in Spanish football.
The death of Deportivo La Coruna ultra Javier Romero Taboada (widely known as Jimmy) in an allegedly pre-organised street battle with Atletico Madrid counterparts before a game on Nov. 30 has prompted proposals to remove radical supporters groups which had previously been tolerated within the game.
La Liga president Javier Tebas and Spain's sports minister Miguel Cardenal have been at the public forefront of such moves, however Villar has not commented on the issue and was heavily criticised in an AS editorial which claimed "the feeling is that he has sabotaged" the attempt to quickly deal with the issue.
Villar cancelled the latest high-level meeting of the authorities this past Monday, saying he had to travel early to the Club World Club. He has also not attended a number of meetings with Cardenal recently, amid reports that the government is concerned over how public money is spent by the federation.
Speaking to AS from that tournament, Blatter said that he was happy to have the Spanish FA chief in Morocco this week, where FIFA is holding Executive Committee meetings.
"Angel Villar is a very important person on our legal committee," Blatter said. "We want him to be here to tell us what is happening in Spain so that we can take decisions about it, which will be useful for the report we are putting together about how to eradicate violence from football."
Blatter said he had seen the images of the violence near Atletico's Estadio Vicente Calderon, while claiming such incidents were a spilling over into football of issues which had their roots in wider social problems in many countries.
"I have seen the images, naturally, and they seemed dramatic," he said. "I believe this type of situation, where someone can die, come from outside football. This rage has its source in other places. It has to do with social discontent which has its expression in football's ultras. There can be various causes that come from society into football. It happens in other places, I am not just talking about Spain. In Switzerland we also have ultras who start rows."
Asked whether he thought Villar was shirking his responsibilities in Spain, Platini declined to comment directly, while saying FIFA committees would this week be considering an issue he personally considered very serious.
"Well, I know he is here, and he will tell us what has happened in Madrid," the former France international said. "We have committees and he is a member of various committees. What I saw on the television was tremendous. These things can never happen in football. At UEFA we are always advancing by adopting measures to eradicate violence. The situation which has been created in Spain is difficult, and we must fight against this behaviour."
Former Athletic Bilbao midfielder and Spain international Villar founded Spain's players union (AFE) in 1978, before becoming Spanish FA president in 1988. He is currently a vice-president of both FIFA and UEFA, and has been talked about as a possible future leader of either the European or world association.