Ángel María Villar

Ángel María Villar Llona (born 21 February 1950) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Villar and the second or maternal family name is Llona.

Ángel María Villar
Villar in 2009
Senior Vice President of FIFA
In office
16 March 2017 – 27 July 2017
PresidentGianni Infantino
Preceded byIssa Hayatou
Succeeded byDavid Chung
First Vice President of UEFA
In office
1992 – September 2017
PresidentLennart Johansson
Michel Platini
Aleksander Čeferin
Acting President of UEFA
In office
9 October 2015 – 14 September 2016
Preceded byMichel Platini
Succeeded byAleksander Čeferin
Personal details
Born
Ángel María Villar Llona

(1950-02-21) 21 February 1950
Bilbao, Spain
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
OccupationFootballer (retired)
Association football career
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1961–1969 Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1969–1981 Athletic Bilbao 291 (8)
1969–1970 → Galdakao (loan) 18 (1)
1970–1971 → Getxo (loan) 23 (1)
Total 332 (10)
International career
1972 Spain amateur 1 (0)
1973–1979 Spain 22 (3)
1978–1980 Basque Country 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

After having represented Athletic Bilbao for one decade (appearing in more than 350 official matches and scoring 11 goals),[1] he went on to serve an even longer stint as president of the Spanish Football Federation.

Villar was a Spain international in the 70s.

Club career

Villar was born in Bilbao, Biscay, and emerged through the youth ranks of local Athletic Bilbao, going on to make his senior debut in amateur football on loan,[2] after which he returned in 1971. He was an undisputed starter in nine of his ten seasons with the Basque side, helping them to two Copa del Rey finals and winning the 1973 edition.[3]

In March 1974, during a 0–0 La Liga home draw against FC Barcelona, Villar elbowed opposing superstar Johan Cruyff, as the Dutch was subject to severe man-marking by several Athletic players.[4] He eventually received a four-match ban for his actions, but the pair later reconciled,[5] and Villar retired seven years later with 361 competitive appearances for his main club.[6]

International career

Villar played 22 times for Spain, scoring three goals.[7] His debut came on 17 October 1973 in a 0–0 friendly with Turkey, in Istanbul.[8]

On 9 December 1979, his last cap, Villar helped the nation to qualify for UEFA Euro 1980, scoring in a 3–1 win in Cyprus.[9] He did not participate, however, in any major international tournament.

Villar also represented the unofficial Basque Country team.[10]

Post-retirement

In 1979, still as an active player, Villar majored in law,[11] and would practice the activity during the following years, which he accumulated with several posts in the footballing hierarchies – he was one of the founders of the Association of Spanish Footballers in 1978.[12]

Having already worked in the Royal Spanish Football Federation under president José Luis Roca, Villar was elected his successor in 1988. He was in charge as the national team won the 2010 FIFA World Cup as well as the 2008 and 2012 European Championships.[13]

Villar also occupied several roles within UEFA and FIFA, being named the organizations' vice president, respectively in 1992 and 2002. Following Spain's controversial exit at the 2002 FIFA World Cup,[14] he left his post at the latter, but was immediately named, amongst others, for the presidency of the Referees' Committee; also that year, he was named for that position at UEFA.[15]

Villar led the unsuccessful Spain and Portugal 2018 World Cup bid.[16] On 16 February 2012, he was elected for his seventh term at the helm of the Spanish Federation, remaining in office until 2016.[17]

Following the suspension of Michel Platini in October 2015, Villar became UEFA's acting president.[18] The following month, he was fined 25,000 Swiss francs and warned by the FIFA Ethics Committee for failing to cooperate with the investigation into the bidding process of the 2018 World Cup.[19]

On 18 July 2017, Villar was arrested on suspicion of embezzling funds.[20] Nine days later, he resigned from his post at both FIFA and UEFA.[21]

Personal life

Villar's niece, María Villar Galaz, was kidnapped and murdered in Toluca, Mexico in September 2016.[22]

Honours

Athletic Bilbao

References
  1. Domínguez, B. (23 May 1975). "Los cachorros son casi leones" [The pups are almost lions] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  2. "Villar: "Aspiramos al título como el Barcelona"" [Villar: "We are title challengers as Barcelona"]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 20 January 1974. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  3. Calvo, Juan Antonio (30 June 1973). "2–0: No tuvo rival serio en el Castellón" [2–0: Castellón were no serious match]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  4. Calvo, Juan Antonio (25 March 1974). "0–0: El "Barça" no acertó a concretar su superioridad" [0–0: "Barça" could not translate their superiority into goals]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  5. "Villar: "Quiero olvidarlo todo y pronto"" [Villar: "I want to forget everything and quickly"]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 27 March 1974. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  6. Ortiz de Lazcano, Javier (12 April 2013). "Villar: "En mis tiempos el Athletic ganaba cuatro de cada diez partidos al Madrid... Hoy empata uno o dos"" [Villar: "In my day Athletic defeated Madrid four times every ten matches... Today they draw once or twice"]. El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  7. "Villar, casi tres décadas al frente del fútbol español sin apenas oposición" [Villar, nearly three decades in charge of Spanish football with nary an opposition] (in Spanish). RTVE. 18 July 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  8. "0–0: España se defendió sin ahogos ante Turquia" [0–0: Spain had no problem fending off Turkey]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 18 October 1973. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  9. Astruells, Andrés (10 December 1979). "1–3: Era tan difícil no ganar..." [1–3: It was so difficult not to win...]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  10. Artetxe, José Luis (16 December 2011). ""Soy hincha del mejor club del mundo"" ["I support the biggest club in the world"]. Deia (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  11. "Ángel María Villar ofrecerá una charla en Santo Domingo de la Calzada sobre el fútbol y su vinculación con la ciudad" [Ángel María Villar will lecture in Santo Domingo de la Calzada on football and its link to the city] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  12. Tylko, Ignacio (23 July 2017). "La mentira del dirigente "honrado"" [The lie of the "honourable" director]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  13. Sánchez Tavero, Fernando (21 December 2021). "¿Qué fue de... Ángel María Villar?" [What happened to... Ángel María Villar?]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  14. Shaheen, Amr (21 July 2002). "Ghandour sees red". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  15. "Referees given full backing". UEFA. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  16. Miller, David (30 November 2010). "Give us 2018 and we'll let you have a cheap submarine". Daily Express. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  17. "Ángel María Villar Llona re-elected RFEF president". UEFA. 17 February 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  18. "FIFA suspends Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini for 90 days; Chung for six years". ESPN FC. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  19. Ziegler, Martyn (13 November 2015). "Fifa corruption investigation: Uefa vice-president Angel Villar Llona fined and warned over refusing to help 2018 World Cup investigation". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  20. "Spain football chief Angel Maria Villar Llona arrested". BBC News. 18 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  21. "Ángel María Villar resigns from Uefa and Fifa positions after arrest in Spain". The Guardian. 27 July 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  22. "Spanish football chief's niece killed after kidnapping". BBC News. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  23. Rovira, Ramón (26 June 1977). "2–2: Los andaluces remontaron dos ventajas vascas" [2–2: The Andalusians countered Basques' advantage twice]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  24. "Athletic 2–1 Juventus". UEFA. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
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