Pawns start moving in Rubiales vs Casillas election battle RFEF A big change made in the national sports council

The current Spanish federation (RFEF) regime seemed troubled after Iker Casillas' announcement that he will stand for the federation's presidency.

Luis Rubiales didn't expect to have a rival in the elections and, while he prepares his manifesto, he has received a helping hand by the secretary of state for sports Irene Lozano.

As Iusport has reported, Lozano has dismissed the deputy director of the national sports council's legal regime to place someone of her trust.

The person who departed, Ramon Barba, had been working for almost 20 years with seven different secretaries from various parties and his dismissal surprised everyone.

He was said to have become an uncomfortable person for the RFEF.

Sources from the former national sports council management team confirmed to MARCA that the RFEF had also put pressure on the previous secretary of state for sports Maria Rienda to make the change.

Rubiales and members of his team, Andreu Camps and Tomas Gonzalez Cueto, met with Lozano in private five minutes after the new president of the national sports council accepted her position in January.

Sources from the current national sports council, consulted by MARCA, have said that this decision to remove Barba has nothing to do with the upcoming RFEF elections.

Some believe this may have been the case as Barba was against Rubiales' request to bring forward the elections and to have another five delegates, who could potentially facilitate the current RFEF's president re-election.

It remains to be seen if the national sports council will pave the way for Rubiales by granting the five new delegates and bringing forward the elections or if they'll boost Casillas' chances by following the previous ruling that discarded the changes.