Spanish government to step in and oversee beleaguered soccer federation

By JOSEPH WILSON The Associated Press

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain’s sports authority says it will step in to oversee the Spanish Football Federation after a corruption probe has targeted the current and former federation presidents. The move by the government comes two weeks after an investigating judge expanded a corruption probe that had already led to the arrest of former federation president Luis Rubiales to include his successor. The corruption and money laundering investigation is looking into contracts that took the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia and other deals made under Rubiales. The government has expressed its concern for the reputational damage to Spanish soccer.