Spain must ´stick to football´ at Euro 2024 – De la Fuente

Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente has urged the national side to concentrate on their football at Euro 2024 and block out the noise surrounding the RFEF.

Former RFEF president Luis Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women’s World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023 and was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.

Pedro Rocha, who was initially named as Rubiales’ replacement, is also under investigation amid the corruption probe.

The RFEF then created a special committee at the end of April, led by former Spain manager Vicente del Bosque, to oversee the federation until there is an official election for their next president.

However, De la Fuente told Reuters that he wants his squad’s full attention on the tournament itself.

He said: “We have to concern ourselves with purely, strictly sporting matters – which we have enough of.

“We have to focus on what we can control. This is very, very basic, but it’s very real. Stick to football.

“I’m concerned about how the facilities are going to be, the training camp, the pitches, the travel. And on the pitch, because the players know that we are going to be judged for what we do on the pitch.

“Everything else, all the media noise that exists around us, is not going to help us. So then we have to be totally and absolutely focused on what is, for us, the most important thing: the competition.”

Spain will begin their Euro 2024 campaign against Croatia in Group B on June 15. Their pool also includes Italy and Albania.