Spain won the European Championship for the fourth time in their history last Sunday, beating England 2-1 to the delight of Luis de la Fuente's players and hundreds of thousands of fans, who celebrated in various parts of the Iberian country, including a reception for tens of thousands of fans in Madrid's Plaza de Cibeles.

As will be the case in 2023, following the women's team's triumph at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, off-field issues overshadowed the footballing celebrations.

The country's football federation (RFEF) faced a new scandal when its president, Pedro Rocha, was banned for two years for exceeding his powers when he chaired the RFEF's executive committee.

Specifically, the suspension is for dismissing the federation's general secretary, Andreu Camps, who was Luis Rubiales' general secretary. This measure is by no means final.

Decisions taken outside the scope of his responsibilities led to Rocha's suspension by the Spanish Sports Administrative Tribunal (TAD). The tribunal is not part of the judicial branch of the Spanish government (a republican monarchy), but rather part of the executive branch.

Rocha was appointed president of the RFEF in April, replacing the discredited former head Luis Rubiales, who was forced to resign in September 2023 after a scandal involving a forced kiss on player Jenni Hermoso during the medal ceremony.

Both Rocha and Rubiales are also under investigation in connection with a corruption scandal at the federation during Rubiales' presidency. Rocha was implicated after giving evasive and unconvincing testimony in the Rubiales case.

As well as the two-year ban, the TAD also imposed two fines of €16,527.84 each on Rocha for terminating the contract with GC Legal (owned by Tomás González Cueto, the RFEF's legal advisor during Rubiales' tenure) and for the federation's involvement in the Super Cup case.

The president of La Liga, Javier Tebas, said on his social media platform X that "the TAD's excuse is ridiculous" and warned that there were other motives, describing the situation as "very dangerous".

"Let's wait for the judicial decision, because the behaviour of those responsible for this nonsense is not typical of a serious country," Tebas lamented.

The sanction imposed by the TAD could now prevent Rocha from standing in the next presidential elections in September, although he will appeal and ask for suspensive effect (that the sanction will not be applied until the higher court has ruled on it, in order to avoid irreparable damage).

According to a copy of the decision published on X by an Onda Cero journalist, the tribunal has banned Rocha from holding "any position in any sports federation" during his two-year suspension.

According to the TAD, the sanction was imposed because "the Tribunal considers that the nature of the offences, which reflect an arbitrary and despotic exercise of the federation's functions (...) and the circumstances surrounding the incident, such as the intentionality and the gross and flagrant illegality of the behaviour (...)".

If the appeal is granted with suspensive effect, Rocha could remain in office until the appeal is resolved, allowing him to run for re-election in the autumn. However, both his current and any potential future positions could be affected if the two-year suspension is confirmed by the Spanish National Sports Council (CSD), the government body responsible for overseeing the TAD.

Until it is known whether the appeal will be accepted with or without suspensive effect (if accepted with suspensive effect, Rocha will remain in office) or if the TAD's decision is upheld, the RFEF will be led by its vice-president, 37-year-old former footballer María de los Ángeles "Yeye" García Chaves, as interim president until elections scheduled for September-October.