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Madrid legend Fernando Morientes emerges as option to become AFE president

  /  autty

Fernando Morientes has emerged as a contender to replace David Aganzo as president of the Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE), if Aganzo is fired.

This comes after a letter from a union employee accused Aganzo of having committed an alleged act of bribery, while, added to this, David de Gea and Juan Mata - two of the most influential vice-presidents at the AFE - stepped down from their roles on the board a month ago as they were not happy with the organisation's management.

The only support that Aganzo seems to have is with Diego Rivas, the AFE's general secretary, while some members of the board - Lucas Perez, Jose Luis Morales, Nestor Susaeta, Jorge Azkoitia and Fe Robles - have remained quiet on the issue.

As such, those in opposition to Aganzo are Armando Lozano, Queco Pina, Xavier Oliva and Jesus Barbadilla, all of whom signed the last lawsuit.

In parallel to this situation, a group of anonymous footballers have been looking for an alternative option as president.

They are trying to find a consensus candidate who would bring together all the players in Spain, with one former player emerging with the vast majority of support: Fernando Morientes.

Just 46 years old, and with a illustrious CV (he played for Albacete, Real Zaragoza, Real Madrid, Monaco, Liverpool, Valencia and Marseille, as well as making 47 caps for Spain), Fernando Morientes is ready to take the plunge.

The calls and messages asking him to be a presidential candidate have intensified in recent days and have finally convinced him.

Morientes has the support of many captains from teams in LaLiga Santander, who see as being the ideal person to guide the AFE out of this current storm.

Very prominent players in Spanish football have not hidden their concern about the way in which events have unfolded.

They are following Aganzo's attempts to hold on to his job with concern: after insisting on the falsity of the accusations, the AFE president has decided to call a meeting of the board of directors (Friday at 17:00 CEST) and one of the items on the agenda is none other than the appointment of new directors.

The current president plans to use a legal trick to replace Mata and De Gea with men who will back him, with Aganzo having not made the two Manchester United players' resignations public to the rest of the directors.

Mata and De Gea decided to leave the board of directors, so they sent a letter to the president via email and complied with all the legal procedures required.

The arrival of two new directors is an attempt by Aganzo to gain support as he looks to continue as president, amidst less and less backing.

At this Friday's board meeting, where the directors will ask Aganzo to resign, the approval of aid for footballers affected by the coronavirus will also be on the agenda.