FA president interview: Ángel María Villar Llona (Spain)

In the latest of our interviews with UEFA member association presidents, Ángel María Villar Llona of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) discusses – among other things – the part grassroots played in his country's success at national level, which peaked with their UEFA EURO 2008 triumph.

UEFA.com: What does your national association do for the campaign against racism and intolerance?

Ángel María Villar Llona: Well, every RFEF employee is aware of our zero tolerance policy towards racism. We support all the national and international campaigns that are designed to eradicate racism from the world of football. Our disciplinary committees stay true to those sentiments and apply the strongest possible penalties in these situations.

UEFA.com: Can you tell us a few things about your grassroots activities?

Villar Llona: In Spain, grassroots development is part of our football culture. We have 19 autonomous sub-federations, and they all develop grassroots football across Spain – thousands of games, every weekend, from 09.00 on Saturday until the late hours on Sunday including futsal games. I think one of the reasons for the success of Spanish football is this participation in grassroots football and games for children in every corner of Spain.

UEFA.com: How did the UEFA HatTrick programme help you?

Villar Llona: The HatTrick programme is very ambitious and helps the RFEF in several ways. One special example is an IT project, a knowledge scheme for the whole RFEF and our sub-federations. It offers all the tools to help our work at both national and regional levels: information about licences, sanctions, qualifications – including referees – and details on our clubs.

UEFA.com: How is the value of Respect promoted by your national association?

Villar Llona: We transmit the Respect programme to all clubs and regional federations, and also promote it to our youth national teams when they are selected from a very young age. Our coaches and teachers are always trying to demonstrate respect for opponents, for the institutions, for football itself and for different opinions.

UEFA.com: What are your plans and objectives for the future?

Villar Llona: My objective is to work every day for this great sport. As RFEF president, my goals are: encouraging kids to play football and to up the levels of clubs, referees and coaches. Of course our national competitions are important too. First we have the Liga, which is of a very high standard, and we want to maintain that level or even improve it. Then we have the cup, the Copa del Rey, for which our goals are the same. We also want to participate in World Cups and EUROs with all our national squads. And another objective we have at the moment is to prepare the Iberian candidature of Portugal and Spain for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which FIFA will decide at the end of the year.

UEFA.com: What are the advantages for a president who has been a footballer?

Villar Llona: You have knowledge of the game, both on and off the pitch. Most administrators in this world were not footballers with many years of experience; so I've been lucky to have been a footballer. I played for Athletic Club Bilbao in the top flight and then for the national team, which gives a great underlying knowledge of all aspects of the game.

UEFA.com: What are the secrets behind Spain's incredible results?

Villar Llona: First of all, the players themselves. They are the ones who have done it. In the last few years we have had high-quality players and behind them are the clubs who have educated them since they were very young. And the RFEF has worked with them in the national youth sides and the senior team. We've had some great successes with the youngsters and in recent years have won various prizes for being the federation with the best results in youth categories. And then you have the senior team who won the European Championship in such brilliant style on 29 June 2008.

For me, the success is related to the players, the clubs who are educating them and also the federation who selects and coordinates a great number through the Spanish ranks to represent the RFEF.

UEFA.com: Is it tough to reach that level of success?

Villar Llona: It will always be difficult to achieve success. I don't believe it's possible to have continuous success. But it does drive you – it is an example and milestone for your own generation, but also for future ones. It stimulates you to see players at the highest level, demonstrated brilliantly in Austria and Switzerland, which was a huge tournament. You can see it as a goal to achieve or a route to follow, a reality which future generations of footballers in Spain will have as a model, to become European Champions in the future.

UEFA.com: So is one of UEFA EURO 2008's main achievements to have created a basis for future success as well?

Villar Llona: As a sporting director I don't look at it as a backbone, but I do acknowledge that all our national teams are performing at a high level. We compete and we have won. In 1964 we won, and I believe we won the last EURO because we were the best team. In other tournaments we haven't won, because others were better than us.

UEFA.com: What long-term benefits come from this success?

Villar Llona: It will work as a stimulus. The players individually made sacrifices and achieved a goal. It's also a success for the clubs, who educated them and who invested money in them and put many people in position to educate them. Then the RFEF selected the best players and coordinated things in a manner that allows them to compete. And all that resulted in the success of a European title. And this works as motivation and influences the current generation and future ones; this has also happened with Germany, France, Italy and other countries who became European Champions.