Probed for 'embezzlement', Spanish FA vice president freed

Madrid, Oct 31, 2018 (AFP) - Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) vice-president Andreu Subies was freed Wednesday after he was arrested as part of an investigation into alleged embezzlement, but remains under official investigation, judicial sources said.

Subies and a former official in Catalonia's regional federation, Jose Contreras Arjona, were released after being questioned by a judge at the National Court, which oversees major cases in Spain, said a source at the court.

The judge did not impose any restrictive measures on them but they are both under official investigation, the source added.

The arrests on Tuesday were part of Operation Soule, which began in 2017 and also led to the arrest in July last year of the RFEF's long-time former president Angel Maria Villar.

Police searched the Catalan Football Federation, where Subies had been president since 2011 before leaving to join the RFEF under new president Luis Rubiales, who was elected in May following Villar's removal in December after nearly three decades as head of Spanish football.

Tuesday's searches extended to players insurance scheme Society of Spanish Footballers (MUPRESFE), which is also being investigated for embezzlement.

That alleged misappropriation of funds is believed to have benefited Subies and Contreras.

gr/mbx/jed/dj