The National Team legends' rebuke of the RFEF: "It's a slight we don't deserve."

Leyendas de España, the association of Spanish international footballers , has denounced what they consider an "abuse of power" by the current leaders of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), led since December by Rafael Louzán. They maintain that there is " a regrettable situation that tramples on the legacy of hundreds of colleagues." " They want submission, to control everything , and we will not allow that," they said in a statement. This also comes at a time when Las Rozas is planning to create a new organization, called Estrellas.

This association, created three decades ago, brings together 860 active and retired international players who have worn the national team jersey at some point. They explain that there are several problems: the elimination of aid for the most needy teammates , pressure on sponsors who collaborate with them, the suspension of sports equipment, and the expulsion from their headquarters in Las Rozas.

"We were doing well until Louzán arrived. Now they've left us out of everything: out of the aid , out of the premises we had in Las Rozas, they won't let us play in the national team shirt... They want to take over Leyendas de España when we've been independent for 30 years and haven't had any problems," José Emilio Amavisca , a member of the Board of Directors of Leyendas de España, told El Confidencial.

Amavisca complains that "the new organization, Estrellas, is designed to only include European and world champions." "The RFEF's general secretary, Álvaro de Miguel, told Salva Ballesta , our president, that we legends would have to be part of the Federation, losing our independence."

The RFEF's offer

This newspaper has contacted the Federation to hear its version of events. "It's not true that only European and world champions will be included in Estrellas, because we have enormous respect for international players . We created this project, similar to those of FIFA and UEFA, so that female players also have a place."

"Uribes has been wonderful because he's tried to mediate, although there aren't many options. The alternatives we have are for the Higher Sports Council (CSD) to welcome us into its fold or to live outside the Federation," Amavisca laments.

"We have offered Leyendas the opportunity to join our project , because international players are always part of the RFEF . If they want to continue independently, that's fine, but we're going to dedicate our resources to our own project," they argue from Las Rozas.

Amavisca says: "They took our Las Rozas headquarters from us after telling us there would be construction work. They moved everything that was there and the process has been very strange because of a disdain we don't deserve . We believe that independence is fundamental, but we worked hand in hand with the RFEF and we want to continue like that. We want to be the face of all the internationals, because what hurts us the most is that it seems like their story doesn't exist."

"We 're going to maintain the resources to care for the international players, but we won't pay salaries," the RFEF assures. "The association was created for that purpose: to help teammates who have had problems in life. The most important thing is what's happened with the aid, because there are many who call us and we have no solution," Amavisca concludes.

Now it's time to see what the future holds for Leyendas de España , although the situation is not very optimistic. The future lies in either integrating into the new Federation project or remaining independent , as they have been doing for the past three decades.