The now former director of the Spanish Federation's bid for the 2030 World Cup had been at the center of the controversy over the voting for the Spanish venues for the 2030 World Cup
María Tato, one of the main people responsible for Spain's application process, decided to step aside after the leak of audios that revealed alleged manipulations in the scores of the selected venues. In recordings, they implied that there were alterations in the results of the Balaídos stadium to benefit Anoeta.
From the Federation, they assured that the evaluation process was carried out under various criteria, complying with the parameters required by FIFA. Nevertheless, some cities, like Vigo (the city where Balaídos is located), demanded the publication of the evaluations and final conclusions after the scandal.
Balaídos había salido perjudicado en la votación
Last Monday, the newspaper El Mundo published a report that exposed audios in which Tato allegedly manipulated the ratings of the competing stadiums. The intention, according to the recordings, was to favor the Anoeta stadium, in San Sebastián, to the detriment of Balaídos, in Vigo.
Amid the repercussions caused by the leak in Spain, Tato submitted her resignation, which was accepted this Wednesday by Rafael Louzán, president of the RFEF.
María Tato paso por muchos cargos de jerarquía, y fue criticada en la mayoría
The content of the audios that sparked the controversy
The audios in which the now former director of the Spanish Federation's bid for the 2030 World Cup participated reveal details about the scores given to the potential World Cup venues. The meeting took place on June 25, 2024, in Las Rozas and was attended by the former head of the organizing team, Fernando Sanz, and Joana Soares, from the Strategy area.
Tato, Sanz y Soares fueron los integrantes principales de la reunión
In the meeting, they discussed the evaluation criteria of the Spanish stadiums. Among the recorded comments, the following stands out: "Let's go there. Let's put values in the Excel to see what we get. The first test of the 800 we'll do until it matches the result," Tato expressed.
"The Coruña airport is small, it's half the size of Bilbao's, it's very small... (Connection) with Morocco they don't have shit," commented the former director about the connectivity between the World Cup venues, which will include Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. "Does Coruña have a train? Yes, no? Then give it a 10," they added in reference to the same category.
From the meeting, an Excel with a ranking of scores emerged in which 11 stadiums were selected. The Celta de Vigo stadium appeared in the last position with a score of 10.2004 points, surpassing Anoeta, which at that time was left out with 10.1226.
However, just 48 hours later, the evaluation team made modifications in the Excel, increasing the rating of the San Sebastián stadium, which went from 10.1226 to 10.6026. With this adjustment, Anoeta surpassed Vigo, relegating the Galician stadium to the 12th position and leaving it out of the final list.
El estadio de Anoeta (Real Sociedad) entró en lugar de Balaídos
